A Gradual-Release-Of-Responsibility (G-R-R) Model For Developing Peer Financial Mentors In Higher Education

Abstract

The last decade has seen tremendous growth in the number of financial education initiatives across higher education institutions (Taylor & Ray, 2023). As part of these efforts, many colleges and universities have launched peer financial mentoring programs that pair trained student employees or volunteers with students seeking personal finance education and support. However, as colleges and universities have created and implemented peer financial mentoring programs, little work has been done to synthesize best practices in training peer mentors. Moreover, no empirical work has explored how peer financial mentors are trained for the job or professionally developed.

Yet, a wealth of empirical research has found that financial counseling and mentoring often entails difficult, uncomfortable conversations between mentors and mentees regarding the mentees’ personal finances, resulting in potentially difficult and uncomfortable situations (Alsemgeest, 2016; Simmel, 2011; Trachtman, 1999). Therefore, it is critical to understand how financial wellness programs and their leadership facilitate training for peer financial mentors in college and university settings, informing how to implement and scale robust training for peer financial mentoring programs at institutions of higher education.

This brief proposes a Gradual Release of Responsibilities (G-R-R) model (Fisher & Frey, 2021) for the training and development of peer financial mentors, a novel model in the higher education financial wellness field. This model emerged from a larger qualitative research study conducted by the HEFWA Research Committee in which 54 peer financial mentors from 7 different institutions of higher education in the United States were interviewed about their experiences engaging in financial wellness and education work, including their training and professional development. During the course of the study, the following relevant research questions were posed:

RQ1: How do peer financial mentors working in U.S. higher education describe their experiences with training for peer financial mentoring? RQ2: Based on their experiences with mentoring their peers, which training and professional development is most effective for peer financial mentors?

By answering these questions, program managers of financial wellness programs and financial aid outreach programs can better understand how to train their peer financial mentors for the niche, potentially uncomfortable work of providing financial mentoring for their peers. Moreover, envisioning the work of training peer financial mentors through the G-R-R model will assist program managers in developing high impact training strategies.