Abstract
Mentoring promotes integration of migrants, but little is known about the mechanisms of success. We explore the particular contribution and experience of mentors in mentoring for migrants. We conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with program leaders, mentors and mentees in three mentoring programs in two cities in Norway. Organisational factors, the quality of the relationship between mentors and mentees, type of information given and skills taught are important to facilitate labour market integration and social participation. Mentors valued training, space and opportunity to meet with other mentors and reciprocity. Mentoring in teams (one Norwegian and one peer mentor) was particularly effective.
Keywords
Introduction
Mentoring programs for migrants are now widely used across Europe to promote integration. In this article, the role of mentors is the focus, in particular, their contribution to the relationships and resources created through mentoring, as well as the mechanisms that facilitate or hinder integration.
Integration is a contested term and has been defined as both a process and an end goal (Franzke & Ruano de la Fuente, 2021). Governments tend to define integration in terms of its outcomes or end goal, notably employment and language acquisition (Kancs & Lecca, 2018). Integration has also been defined as ‘a process through which people pass en route to assimilation’ (Phillimore, 2011, p. 578). To avoid this linear understanding of integration, Costigan et al. (2022, p. 339) prefer the multi-dimensional concept of social cohesion with interrelated dimensions of ‘belonging, inclusion (economic), participation (civically and in the community), recognition (mutual respect; absence of discrimination) and legitimacy (institutional and public policies upholding social cohesion)’. In this article, while continuing to use the term integration, we consider several of the dimensions identified by Costigan et al. (2022). Social participation, or integration beyond employment, involves establishing social networks, finding needed information and identifying local resources. Including both labour market integration and social participation, we define integration as the process of including immigrants in society both economically and socially by providing opportunities for active participation.
Labour market integration for migrants and refugees is important from the perspective of the government in the receiving country. Given the demographic challenges in most European countries (aging populations, weakening ratios of economically active to inactive residents), the successful integration of refugees and migrants could provide a solution to the challenges and a welcome stimulation to economic growth (Kancs & Lecca, 2018). However, there are also costs to the receiving country, especially in the short run, connected to the provision of welfare services, education and access to social structures (Kancs & Lecca, 2018). A failure of integration is likely to cost more than the short-term investment in integration (Kancs & Lecca, 2018). Migrants seeking integration in the labour market may face challenges that include discrimination, difficulties navigating different cultural and work-related norms and undervaluation of educational qualifications and workplace experience; additional confusion may be caused by the large quantity of information and bewildering regulations (Kusterer & Bernhard-Oettel, 2020).
The Norwegian labour market has been characterised as consisting of many small and medium-sized businesses, often resource-based with high labour costs – with the implication that employers may be reluctant to recruit workers with uncertain qualifications and language skills (Søholt et al., 2015). In Norway, the typical recruitment strategy is to work through networks and personal contacts, making it difficult for immigrants, especially refugees with weak local networks, to find employment (Søholt et al., 2015). Consequently, immigrants are more likely to take jobs below their qualification levels and are ‘over-represented in jobs that require little formal education’ (Karlsdóttir et al., 2017, p. 35). Mentoring programs enable immigrants to build networks and personal contacts; NGOs collaborating with the public sector (municipalities, NAV 1 ) and the private sector (employers) may promote supportive programs (Karlsdóttir et al., 2017).
Mentoring has been widely used as an approach to integration, for example, in education or the workplace, but there is no universally accepted definition of mentoring (De Cuyper et al., 2019). For the purposes of this article, we define mentoring as a type of informal learning where the mentor, who has more local knowledge and local experience, guides the mentee who has less local knowledge and experience. Several recent studies focus on mentoring to work (De Cuyper, 2022), with some focusing on highly skilled migrants (Vandermeerschen & De Cuyper, 2019) or gender differences in labour market outcomes (Månsson & Delander, 2017). Recently, the role of social participation has been recognised as vital for successful integration, and De Cuyper & Crijns (2023) note that while social mentoring was initially provided largely by civil society organisations, it is now being increasingly institutionalised in some European societies. The findings of these studies show that, in general, mentoring has positive outcomes for labour market and social participation; however, the mechanisms for success are poorly understood (De Cuyper et al., 2019).
Mentoring programs involve not two but three parties: the mentee, the mentor and, crucially, the organisation that matches the mentee and mentor (De Cuyper et al., 2019). The vast majority of the literature on mentoring focuses on outcomes for the mentee, and the other two parties are often mentioned only in passing or in specific contexts such as youth mentoring. When mentors are participants in research, findings focus on their motivation (having had a similar experience, wanting to help or give something back); taking responsibility and the need for mentors to receive training and support; navigating – and limiting – emotions; and empowerment and positive personal growth for mentors (Evans, 2005; Gower et al., 2022; Paloma et al., 2020; Randell & Osman, 2021). Several of these studies concern peer mentoring where the mentor shares with the mentee one or many aspect(s) of identity, for example, being a youth or a woman; or background experience such as language, or experience of war and conflict (Gower et al., 2022; Paloma et al., 2020; Randell & Osman, 2021). Intercultural mentoring may require different mentor practices (Reeves, 2017), and the design of programs for humanitarian migrants may create additional challenges (Chevrier et al., 2023).
Mentoring in Norway, particularly mentoring to work for refugees, is a relatively new field (Munthe-Kaas et al., 2018). A recent scoping review of mentoring for inclusion (Radlick & Mevatne, 2023) comprised 19 studies of which only one was a peer-reviewed publication, while the rest were reports either for public authorities or for the organisations running mentoring programs. The reports were overwhelmingly in Norwegian (Radlick & Mevatne, 2023), making them inaccessible to an international readership, although some have summaries in English (e.g., Bjørnset & Kindt, 2019; Søholt et al., 2015).
In summary, the literature shows that mentoring leads to higher labour market and social participation, but the mechanism by which this occurs is little researched. There is relatively little literature on the role of mentors in mentoring programs for migrants. This article is part of a larger study that begins to address these gaps. In the larger study, the overall objective was to explore which aspects of mentoring contribute to labour market integration and social participation. The overall objective for this article is to explore the role of the mentor in mentoring programs for migrants 2 with two sub-objectives to explore: (1) the nature of relationships and resources created through mentoring and (2) the mechanisms within mentoring that facilitate or hinder labour market integration and social participation.
Theoretical Framework
Given our objectives to explore effective mechanisms and the nature of relationships and resources created through mentoring, we utilise two conceptual frameworks created by St-Jean and co-authors. The first is widely cited and utilised (Chevrier et al. 2023) and concerns the functions of a mentor that promote mentee learning (St-Jean 2012). St-Jean (2012) identified three categories of functions: psychological, career-related and role-model functions. Career-related functions include integration (introduction to relevant contacts, expanding networks), information support (specific knowledge transfer, e.g., to identify opportunities), confrontation (challenging the mentee to reflect on beliefs and attitudes) and guidance (improve problem comprehension when problem-solving) (St-Jean, 2012, p. 210). The psychological functions of the mentor encompass being a reflector (giving feedback on strengths and weaknesses), being reassuring (encouraging and relieving stress), motivating (forming self-confidence) and being a confidant (St-Jean, 2012, p. 211). The final category is the role model function (mentor as source of inspiration), which St-Jean (2012, p. 211) evaluates as lower than the other functions. Elsewhere, St-Jean and Audet (2013) consider the effectiveness of mentoring styles: non-directive (maieutic) versus directive and involved versus disengaged. In this second conceptualisation, their study found that the maieutic-involved mentoring style was the most effective in promoting learning: in the maieutic approach, mentors ask question to help mentees find their own solutions, and when this is combined with mentors’ active engagement in meeting and following-up, mentees make rapid progress (St-Jean & Audet, 2013).
While St-Jean's (2012; St-Jean & Audet, 2013) conceptualisation provides a useful framework for exploring the role of mentors, it relates to mentoring of entrepreneurs and may not be sufficient to explore social and cultural aspects of mentoring migrants and mentoring beyond the workplace or labour market. Mentoring migrants is not a ‘quick fix’ solution for labour market integration; instead, the reality is complex and requires a broader, longer-term perspective; additional challenges are involved in intercultural mentoring: mentees potentially have different cultural norms and need new language skills (Chevrier et al., 2023). Other studies consider socialisation aspects of mentoring, such as mutuality of the mentoring relationship in terms of cultural exchange; and the type of knowledge transferred, which needs to go beyond the explicit to include tacit knowledge, which is ‘highly valuable, often elusive and inaccessible’ (Reeves, 2017, p. 187).
Methodology
In this qualitative pilot study, aiming to explore aspects of mentoring that may contribute to sustainable long-term work and social participation, we used semi-structured interviews to collect data. In order to explore a broad range of mechanisms within mentoring, we recruited three organisations, in the NGO and private sectors, running mentoring programs for migrants with different levels of education and qualifications in two cities in Norway. The programs varied in terms of focus and aim of mentoring, type of mentors (Norwegian and peer), as well as length of program. While two programs specifically focused on pathways to work, one program had a wider focus on social inclusion. This variety of organisations, programs and roles enabled us to access a deeper understanding of how different types of mentoring in various contexts might work. Program length varied from four to 12 months, with some flexibility (see Table 1 for details). The organisations helped us to access mentors (7), mentees (9) and program leaders (4) who were interviewed about their experiences of participating in a mentoring program. Two of the mentor interviews and one of the leader interviews occurred in pairs. There was a broad gender balance across leader and mentor categories, as well as mentees in two of the programs, but mentee participants from the remaining program were mostly women.
Participating Organisations.
*IMDi = Norwegian Directorate for Integration and Diversity.
Interviews were conducted in either Norwegian or English, depending on participant preference. During the interview, mentors and mentees were asked about themes such as background and motivation, practices and activities, effective outcomes, challenges and organisational practices. Program leaders were asked about the aims and goals of program, recruitment and matching procedures, organisational practices and goal achievement. Interviews were transcribed and coded in the language in which they were conducted. The anonymised transcripts were uploaded into NVivo 12, the coding frame was collectively constructed by the research team and used to code all transcripts. Thematic network analysis (Attride-Stirling, 2001) was applied to group codes into basic themes and then cluster them into organising and global themes (all levels of themes relating to mentors’ role are shown in Table 2). In order to minimise loss of meaning, translation from Norwegian occurred only once the quotes were selected.
Analysis Table.
Ethical Considerations
Management and storage of personal data were approved by SIKT (Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research). All participants were informed about the purpose of the study, their rights (anonymity, confidentiality and voluntary participation) and what participation would involve before signing consent forms. Interviews were recorded with participant consent and securely saved in SAFE (the university's secure, encrypted database). Recordings were deleted after transcription, and transcripts were anonymised before analysis.
Findings
Our findings are presented thematically following Table 2, where the global themes are organisational practices, mentors’ practices and mentor's motivation. All data are used, including interview data from mentees and leaders, where relevant information concerning mentors appears.
Organisational Practices
The three participating programs varied in relation to sector, funding, focus, mentor and mentees' qualifications and background as well as recruitment procedures (see Table 1). Programs 1 and 2 focused on highly qualified mentees. Program 2 also used highly qualified Norwegian mentors, typically in leading positions. In Program 3, mentees with various levels of qualifications were recruited; mentors’ qualifications were also more diverse.
Selection and Support
In Programs 1 and 2, mentoring took place in dyads with one mentor and one mentee. The mentor was most often selected from the same employment sector as the mentee. Selection in Program 3 varied because organisational practice was that mentoring always took place in teams of two mentors, one with Norwegian background and one peer mentor. Importantly, the peer mentors had themselves, previously, been a mentee in the same program. The leader of this program reflected on the reasoning behind this organisational practice: Our idea was to make a group where one had a Norwegian background, one had an immigrant background and one newcomer. … The one with a Norwegian background often becomes a door-opener to the Norwegian society while the one with an immigrant background, … will, for his own part, have experienced some of what I (as newcomer) have struggled with in life, that may become a resource for others. And in this way they can really contribute (Leader 3a).
3
Such is the mentor program, that there should be equity. Even if I am Norwegian, it doesn’t mean that I am leader of the group. There should be equity and trustworthiness, and everyone should learn from each other (Mentor 3.2a).
Matching is done in different ways depending on mentor program and its goals. In their application, mentees are often asked to detail what they are looking for in order to identify potential mentors. One of the leaders explained that the information meeting for mentees was also an opportunity to get to know their interests, enabling them to then directly contact suitable mentors. It may be a challenge both to recruit mentors and find good matches: ‘… it was important that the person was from the same or similar industry as the mentee. For me this year, there was some industries that…it was really hard to find a mentor ….’ (Leader 1). Good matching will imply attention to a broader set of aspects beyond securing a match in the field of work. In particular cases, great care must be taken in the matching process: Because …, for example, people from Somalia or Arab counties, there they do not talk about gay people, …. And we work a lot with such attitudes… . How can I say it…before one has changed such attitudes, it may be difficult (Leader 3a).
Mentor’s Practices
Mentor's practices include the organising themes: what to prioritise, related to work, related to social integration and to approach and navigate the Norwegian system.
What to Prioritise
Mentors report that it is vital to make an emotional connection and build trust between mentor and mentee. ‘My personal relation with this mentee, that was the most important thing for me’ (Mentor 2). To ease this process and connect properly: One of the things I did was just listen because I think, again unless you've been in that situation, there are very few people that would understand the toll that takes on you… we have had… in-depth conversations where, instead of talking about a job or a resume or cover letter, we'll just talk (Mentor 1.1).
In addition, mentors are crucial in reaffirming mentees’ view of themselves as skilled and valuable: … because one of the negative aspects when it comes to prolonged periods of unemployment is that you begin to question your worth … how much you have to offer and that is always a dangerous thing because that is a very slippery slope (Mentor 1.1).
An emotional connection is an important point of departure in order for mentors to further recognize various challenges mentees may face and facilitate helpful support. Having an immigrant background, and own experiences of trying to access the Norwegian labour market, may be a particular resource in relation to handling the emotional aspect of (often) unsuccessful job hunting. ‘…., within that five-year period, I was constantly job-hunting even though I had, you know, part time jobs on the side. So, I have roughly five years’ worth of job rejection’ (Mentor 1.1). This resonates with earlier research, which shows that peer mentoring brings an extra valuable dimension for mentees (Paloma et al. 2020). However, it is also important to establish emotional boundaries. Mentors felt frustrated on behalf of their mentees after multiple applications were rejected: … but one thing I try to do was to constantly remind myself that it wasn't about me. It was about them, so my job was just to support them however I could and … the challenge for me was not being upset for them or frustrated for them … my job is just to be that supportive rock (Mentor 1.1).
Related to Work
In all programs, mentors focused on information and skills training. Typically, they highlighted the importance of helping with CV-writing, mastering digital tools in relation to job search, how to present oneself to potential employers and interview practice. They made an effort to adapt to the individual mentee's needs: ‘The challenge here was providing them with the necessary information versus providing it to them in … the best way for them to absorb it’ (Mentor 1.1). Individual and tailored approaches concerning how information is given, and skills taught may be vital in order for mentees to be able to make use of the support offered.
An important resource to mentees in relation to job possibilities is mentor networks, and the mentor's willingness to introduce the mentee to his/her network. Opening the mentor's network for the mentee ‘is part of the diamond’ (Leader 2). The following mentor reflects on the importance of having someone vouch for you: I didn’t have a clue about his competence, but I wrote him a reference ‘out of the blue’ and I suggested to possible employers to employ him because I personally believed in his potential … Then I wrote who I was, what I have been doing, saying that I couldn’t give any promises apart from the fact that I had faith in this guy. This reference meant that he was invited to interview, got the job and was permanently employed (Mentor 3.1a). I think there is something that is important about networks. Because in Norway you need networks to find work, to start your own business. … And then the (mentees) get the opportunity to meet everyone, right? (Leader 3a). The only downside may have been…the only time I ever tried to use a member of my professional network to help one of my mentees, unfortunately … it was just one of those things that just didn't work out (Mentor 1.1).
Related to Social Integration
Learning and practicing the Norwegian language is an important part of mentoring, especially in mentor programs with a wider focus than work only. Typically, learning the language is an integral part of various activities taking place in the mentor–mentee relationship. In Program 3, they have apartments for training various skills: It's great to be in those apartments. There we do everyday things together. We go shopping, we “put words” on everything we do: we shop, we pay, we return to the apartment, we use kitchen equipment – putting everything into words (Mentor 3.2b). It gives me such hope when I see the mentors who aren’t Norwegian and they speak very good Norwegian, have a job, and they make me believe that I will become as successful as they are (Mentee 3.1). About this Norwegian lady [mentor], … I asked her how women and men should approach each other. I don’t know much about Norwegian friendships, what I can say and what I shouldn’t say. She has told me a lot (Mentee 3.1).
The value of reciprocity is highlighted in a mentor–mentee relationship, where both parties contribute and both parties learn: I was invited home to eat Turkish food and observe traditions, hear about Ramadan and all their cultural holidays. In this way it is reciprocal, everyone learns something. It's not about Norwegians teaching and others learning (Mentor 3.2a).
Mentoring implies being both generous and direct about what is expected in Norwegian society. ‘It's a mixture of being a little generous and at the same time daring to say that this is actually important’. For example: ‘If you are not coming, it is important to let us know’ (Leader 3b). Leader 3a exemplified how difficult it can be to navigate different codes of politeness, but at the same time underlined that some codes are vital for success in Norway: ‘In my culture, …when someone rings on the door, we have to welcome them. I cannot say that I am busy or about to do something else. That would mean… that I am not interested in them’. She continued, contrasting the situation to Norway, where it not rude to arrange another time to meet. Although these are aspects of social integration, they also significantly influence success in the job market, showing that mentors’ guidance is relevant across arenas.
To Approach and Navigate the Norwegian System
In mentoring, information about various aspects of ‘the system’ in Norway, on different levels (local, regional, national level) is focused on speeding up the process of knowing about, as well as accessing, important support: ‘We definitely have checked different platforms, NAV, …, you know, all those details. This was a very fast way forward to learn without having to spend five years in Norway’ (Mentee 1.4). Mentors also called for a lower threshold for cooperation between mentors and welfare institutions together with, and on behalf of mentees (Mentor 3.1a).
It is important to communicate specific information about rights and benefits, which may be unfamiliar to newcomers. Mentor 3.2a gives an example of how things are different in the home country, which is the right to return items and to be refunded: Even though we've used… and it was kind of broken like that soon after … you have a warranty, true. Eventually we went back. And they said, it's fine, we can take it and you can get a brand new one. We were completely shocked (laughs).
Mentor’s Motivation
Something to Offer and Wanting to Help
Available time and a personal wish to do something different and meaningful motivate some mentors: ‘I've known about this program before, … And that's why I got interested, when I saw an ad, I thought, I'm going to get involved. Just to do some things outside of what I was doing myself’ (Mentor 3.1b). Some mentors mentioned being motivated by having experiences and skills of value to others, especially related to being highly educated with relevant experience but not given an opportunity: ‘That was the main reason for volunteering as a mentor to begin with because I've been there. I know just as well as anybody just how demoralising that can be’ (Mentor 1.1).
Mentors may play a crucial role in empowering mentees: I think their confidence is affected by the fact that they’ve met a lot of difficulties in Norwegian labour life, the workplace or society. Their confidence is pretty low, their self-esteem is low and I think they just need to be pushed a little from the mentor side (Leader 1).
The importance of being a role model brings inspiration and hope. A peer mentor thought his mentees were inspired ‘to know that if I could find some success professionally, they could as well. I would like to think that I motivated them enough to never give up and to never give up on themselves’ (Mentor 1.1). He continued: So ultimately, what this program has done for me, it has allowed me to use what was arguably one of the worst experiences of my life, to help others avoid these pitfalls and…ultimately, this program has allowed me to attempt to positively impact another person's life..
Discussion
We set out to explore the role of mentors in mentoring programs and specifically to discover, firstly, the nature and meaning of relationships in mentoring and the resources they bring to mentees and mentors, and secondly, the mechanisms within mentoring that promote labour market and social participation. While our objectives explore effective mechanisms of mentoring (following the use of the term in the literature), our theoretical framework uses the concept of functions of mentoring (following St-Jean's terminology), and in our analysis, what emerged were practices of mentoring. For the purposes of this article, these are linked in the following way: functions refer to intended action or purpose; practices refer to what is actually done, the enacted behaviour; and mechanisms refer to the set of practices through which the function is produced. In this discussion section, we first consider the links between functions and practices; we then discuss our findings related to our first sub-objective about relationships and resources; and our second sub-objective concerning the mechanisms that promote integration.
Functions and Practices
In this section, we situate our findings in St-Jean's (2012) framework of mentor functions and discuss where the mentor practices emerging from our findings (see Table 2) match functions and what gaps arise. While St-Jean's (2012) functions are a starting point, we need to go beyond them when discussing the social and cultural aspects of mentoring migrants.
The four dimensions of career-related functions that promote mentee learning (St-Jean, 2012) provide direct links with what we call practices ‘related to work’ of mentors in our study. Integration into the business community, described as the introduction to relevant contacts (St-Jean, 2012), matches our basic theme of ‘sharing networks’. While for entrepreneurs in Canada, this may be a straightforward function of mentors, it is particularly significant across the labour market for migrants who lack contacts and networks. In Norway, as in other countries, information about work and job vacancies is often disseminated through informal channels such as social networks or contacts (Søholt et al., 2015), and the use of a mentor's network and contacts is viewed as one way for migrants to overcome difficulties attached to their own lack of a network (Bjørnset & Kindt, 2019). Some of our participants related the value of their networks – how the mentor's network made all the difference to the mentee getting work. However, our participants also debated the pros and cons of sharing the mentor's network; it was not seen as universally positive but rather the benefits depended on the quality of the mentor–mentee relationship: a high degree of trust is required. Reeves (2017) cautions that mentors should ensure that mentees grasp the particular social norms and skills required before sharing valued networks. A term used in the literature, ‘door-opener’ (Radlick & Mevatne, 2023), was echoed by one of our participants; it can apply both to finding work and to social integration.
A second dimension of career-related functions is information support, the transfer of specific relevant knowledge, which relates to our basic theme of ‘information and skills training’. In our findings, the two programs that focused on work and career placed great emphasis on the norms and skills needed to access the labour market. Guidance related to work involved skills such as writing CVs, applications and profiles on networking platforms as well as job interview preparation and debriefing. While these skills may not be needed by entrepreneurs establishing their own businesses, they are typical in mentoring programs for migrants related to finding suitable work (De Cuyper et al., 2019; Månsson & Delander, 2017; Radlick & Mevatne, 2023). Once mastered, these skills become resources to access the labour market.
The third and fourth dimensions of career-related functions are both related to problem-solving, namely confrontation and guidance, where the mentor challenges the mentee to reflect on attitudes and beliefs that may be a hindrance and then guides the mentee to improve their comprehension of the problem (St-Jean, 2012). This links with our basic themes of ‘motivate for proactivity’ and ‘opening new perspectives’. Our participants knew they had to push the mentees to take responsibility, for example, in establishing social networks on their own, and to try new directions. Although the four dimensions of St-Jean's (2012) career-related functions clearly link with work-related practices in our study, it is noticeable that when the mentees are migrants, more is required of mentors – not just information but also skills; not just introductions but inclusion in networks.
When it comes to the dimensions of St-Jean's (2012) psychological functions, the link with our findings on mentor practices was not quite as straightforward as with career-related functions. Our findings show overlap between the psychological and role-model functions and also with the styles of mentoring described by St-Jean and Audet (2013). Our basic theme ‘making the emotional connection’ involves both reaffirming the mentees’ view of themselves as skilled and valuable – linking with the psychological function of reassurance (St-Jean, 2012) – and engaged listening to connect emotionally, which St-Jean and Audet (2013) describe as a maieutic-involved style of mentoring. Like St-Jean (2012), the role model function was linked to inspiration and hope in our findings; however, while St-Jean (2012) evaluated the role model function as lower than the other functions, we found that for migrants, the role model of peer mentors was particularly encouraging and motivating.
Some of the practices that emerged in our findings cannot be linked with any of St-Jean's (2012; St-Jean & Audet 2013) functions or styles largely because they are the needs of migrants. We therefore go beyond St-Jean and draw on other literature to contextualise our conceptualisation. Most notably, there are no functions linked to promoting learning to navigate the system, which includes knowledge and rights related to welfare services such as NAV (a public sector resource which provides information about job vacancies and work-related courses) and health services; and rights in everyday life, like customer rights. This kind of system-related knowledge resonates with what Reeves (2017) calls ‘tacit’ knowledge – taken for granted by those who have grown up and been socialised in the system – that is often inaccessible to newcomers, but highly valuable to migrants when made explicit. Another area of practice absent in St-Jean's (2012) functions is that of organisational practices, as he was dealing with entrepreneurs who do not work for organisations. Chevrier et al. (2023) provide an excellent overview of all processes involved in (co)creating value in mentoring programs; these include the selection of mentees, training of mentors, the nature of their interactions and the coherence of practices taken together. Finally, migrant and refugee mentees need social integration, for example, learning the language and culture of the new country; while not represented in St-Jean's functions of mentors, it is considered within intercultural mentoring programs (Chevrier et al., 2023).
Relationships and Resources
In mentoring programs for migrants, our findings have revealed practices that go beyond the functions outlined by St-Jean (2012). In addition, participation in a mentoring program generates new relationships, which in turn generate access to resources.
The nature of the relationship between mentor and mentee is significant. Mentors mentioned the importance of prioritising the personal relationship with the mentee, actively listening and establishing trust before they could start guiding. St-Jean and Audet (2013), in their article on mentoring style, touch on the nature of the mentoring relationship, particularly the level of engagement, mainly to explore how it impacts mentor functions. Reeves (2017), in contrast, emphasises the criticality to creating deep learning of listening and asking the right questions. These qualities are also particularly highlighted literature on peer mentoring (Gower et al., 2022; Randell & Osman, 2021). While establishing an emotional connection is essential, setting emotional boundaries is also important in order to remain professional and able to help and guide the mentee. This is reflected in literature where mentors found it difficult to set boundaries, but noted that once mastered, it helped them in their interactions with others in their personal lives (Evans, 2005). Some of the dimensions of the psychological functions of St-Jean (2012) may indicate the nature of the mentoring relationship – being a reflector, reassuring and motivating the mentee, for example. This was evident in our findings too: where mentors understood the insidious impact on mentees’ self-esteem and self-worth of prolonged unemployment and multiple rejected job applications, they set out to encourage the mentees to not give up but at the same time to be proactive and open to new directions. This resonates with literature concerning peer mentors who have faced similar challenges themselves (Gower et al., 2022; Paloma et al., 2020).
Our participants went beyond simply knowing what is required and supplying the necessary information – they also spent time and effort deliberating on how to make it understandable in a way that the mentees could absorb and use it effectively. This resonates with Reeve's (2017), creating a context for deep learning (mentioned above), and was indirectly referred to in the study by Randell and Osman (2021), where the participating peer-mentors (of unaccompanied minors) prioritised creating relationships of trust before sharing information and resources about social norms.
Mentoring relationships may create power differentials as the mentor has more local knowledge and experience than the mentee. Mentoring is often assumed to be based on a caring relationship with positive outcomes, but it is essential to understand that the mentoring relationship is hierarchical (Johnson-Bailey & Cervero, 2004; Kent et al., 2013). Cross-cultural mentoring amplifies existing power differentials (Johnson-Bailey & Cervero, 2004). Given this potential for power differentials in mentoring, in Program 3, there was a deliberate and conscious effort to create equity within the three-part team of newcomer, immigrant volunteer and Norwegian volunteer. Each member contributed something different to the team, so there was not equality but reciprocity and equity were important.
Besides the relationship with the mentee, mentors valued connection with other mentors. In Programs 1 and 2, this was perceived as missing, and the mentors mentioned that they would have appreciated meeting with other mentors and receiving training and guidance on the mentoring process. In Program 3, mentors received two days of training and, once a month when all teams met together, had the opportunity to interact, support and seek support from other mentors. These monthly meetings also provided opportunities for mentees to meet with other mentees and different mentors. Peer mentors, especially, report valuing events to establish networks of supportive relationships (Gower et al., 2022; Paloma et al., 2020); other studies refer to the importance of training mentors (Evans, 2005).
Mechanisms Within Mentoring That Promote Integration
For the purposes of this article, mechanisms refer to the set of practices through which the function is produced, as stated above. In this section, we consider two sets of practices: one, relating to individual mentor practices and the second relating to organisational practices.
Drawing on the experiences of our participant mentors, essential practices that needed to be in place to promote mentee learning include, first establish the relationship and set the emotional boundaries; next identify what the mentee needs to learn (work and socio-cultural-related) and how to create the context in which that learning could best take place; consider emotional as well as work-related learning needs. Mentee learning is most strongly promoted when the entire set of practices is present. This resonates strongly with Reeve's (2017) insights and guidelines for best practice in intercultural mentoring for immigrant newcomers, although she focuses on mentor competence in each practice rather than considering the impact on the effectiveness of combining all practices in a set.
The inclusion of three different mentoring programs with different goals, different mentee and mentor backgrounds has generated insights into important mechanisms that contribute to the successful integration of mentees. Program 3 had the broadest purpose (beyond just labour market integration to include social participation), and here, we highlight its particular set of practices. Firstly, a team of mentors comprising a Norwegian and a peer mentor provided complementary resources of a ‘door-opener’ and an inspirational peer with language competency and employed status. Secondly, regular meeting places for all mentees and all mentors increased the social networks of all mentees and mentors, enhancing access to learning and resources in different arenas. Thirdly, mentor training raised confidence and perceived competence of mentors, and enhanced awareness and practice of equity and reciprocity. We found no literature on the team model, one study mentioned reciprocal supportive relationships for mentors (Paloma et al., 2020), and several studies mentioned the importance of training for mentors (Evans, 2005; Gower et al., 2022).
Linking Mentoring and Integration
We define mentoring as a type of informal learning and throughout the article, we have noted how the practices and functions of mentoring promote mentee learning. We define integration as a process of inclusion, both economically and socially. The connection between them is indirect – a mentor with more local knowledge and experience enables a mentee to gain knowledge, skills, resources and access to networks, all of which increase opportunities for inclusion, thus promoting integration.
Strengths and Limitations
The design covered mentor programs with both more work-specific mandates (Programs 1 and 2) as well as a program with a broader mandate (program 3), where socialisation/cultural aspects were more clearly expressed. The programs further varied regarding mentees’ education and background, and both Norwegian and peer mentors were used. Including programs with broader mandates and catchment areas allows us to describe broadly aspects and mechanisms that may contribute to the success of mentoring. St-Jean's framework (2012) helped identify significant and creative mechanisms, but our findings also unveil aspects less covered in this field of research, namely socialisation/cultural aspects and system-related aspects in successful mentoring. This may indicate directions for future program design and further research.
This small qualitative study was unfunded, and data collection had to be conducted as and when possible. We used five different interviewers, and although all used the same interview guide, this may have introduced inconsistencies. The study was conducted in Norway, but many of the issues resonate with findings in other countries, and our findings may inform knowledge and practices elsewhere.
Conclusion
Mentoring has been shown to be highly effective in promoting learning in labour market and social contexts, with mentors fulfilling psychological, career-related and role model functions. However, when the mentoring program is for migrants, that is, intercultural mentoring, a broader more holistic approach is needed that includes additional socio-cultural and system-related functions. In addition to explicit work-related knowledge, our findings reveal that mentors transfer tacit knowledge on rights, relationships and social norms that is deeply valuable to migrants. Mentors, in particular peer mentors, emerge as highly valued and inspirational role models. Effective mechanisms within mentoring comprise sets of mentor practices such as excellent listening skills, emotional and specific knowledge support as well as the ability to create contexts in which learning can take place. The organisation managing the mentoring program can also contribute effective mechanisms through combining practices such as team mentoring (one Norwegian mentor, one peer mentor and the newcomer), equity within mentoring teams, creating meeting spaces beyond the mentoring team for all mentors and all mentees to interact. Such mechanisms, or sets of practices, provide a more holistic approach to meet the complexity of intercultural mentoring and promote the integration of migrants.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of all our participants. The authors warmly thank Olin Blaalid Oldeide and Masego Katisi for participating in collecting data.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.