Any company can post white papers. We publish peer-reviewed evaluations.
Every feature of MentorPRO is backed by research. This page collects published research and work in preparation, with links to available publications.
Built by the person who wrote the field's standards.
Jean Rhodes is the Frank L. Boyden Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring. She has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles on mentoring and youth development, co-authored the third and fourth editions of MENTOR's Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, and received the American Psychological Association's Urie Bronfenbrenner Award. She edits the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring, read by thousands of practitioners.
Her sister and co-founder Nancy McNamara is a computer scientist who has built secure software since Xerox PARC and founded Academic Web Pages in 2002.
Jean Rhodes, Ph.D., Co-founder
Mentoring is most effective when it is
Delivered by credible, trained mentors
A meta-analysis of cross-age peer mentoring found effects more than double those reported in earlier meta-analyses of adult mentoring, when mentors were trained and supported.
Burton, S., Raposa, E. B., Poon, C. Y. S., Stams, G. J. J. M., and Rhodes, J. E. (2022). Cross-age peer mentoring for youth: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Community Psychology, 70, 211 to 227. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12579MentorPRO Academy provides training for mentors, mentees, and program staff.
Focused on specific challenges and goals
Mentoring aimed at particular goals and challenges produced effects two to three times larger than non-specific, friendship-only approaches.
Christensen, K. M., Hagler, M. A., Stams, G. J., Raposa, E. B., Burton, S., and Rhodes, J. E. (2020). Non-specific versus targeted approaches to youth mentoring: A follow-up meta-analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 959 to 972. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01233-xGoal Setting gives conversations a focus. Check-In brings participants' current challenges into view.
Expanding participants' social capital
Relationships that young people initiate themselves, with training on how to do it, surpassed traditionally assigned matches.
van Dam, L., Blom, D., Kara, E., Assink, M., Stams, G. J., Schwartz, S., and Rhodes, J. (2021). Youth initiated mentoring: A meta-analytic study of a hybrid approach to youth mentoring. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50, 219 to 230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01336-5Flash Mentoring offers focused conversations with alumni and professionals. Connected Futures teaches participants how to reach out.
These findings inform MentorPRO's design. Studies evaluating the platform and its features are listed below.
What each part of the platform is associated with, and where it was published.
| Feature | Associated outcomes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | Higher end-of-year GPA, academic self-efficacy, belonging, and well-being | Werntz, A., Deng, Y., Jasman, M., Yowell, C., and Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Effects of a technology-enhanced university peer mentoring program on first-year academic and well-being outcomes. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. |
| Check-In | Greater academic self-efficacy and well-being, and stronger GPA | Werntz, A., Jasman, M., Simeon, K., Gunasekaran, H., Yowell, C., and Rhodes, J. E. (2023). Implementation of a technology-enhanced peer mentor referral system for first-year university students. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science.Werntz, A., Deng, Y., Jasman, M., Yowell, C., and Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Effects of a technology-enhanced university peer mentoring program on first-year academic and well-being outcomes. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. |
| Goal Setting | Greater life satisfaction, academic self-efficacy, and GPA | Hersch, E., Werntz, A., Deng, Y., Jasman, M., and Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Can I help with that? The role of goal setting in a technology-enabled peer mentoring program. Journal of Community Psychology. |
| MatchPRO | Research-informed matching criteria | Ramadurai, R., Deng, Y., Werntz, A., Yowell, C., and Rhodes, J. E. (2025). Mentor-mentee similarity in college peer mentoring: Untangling conflicting results. Studies in Higher Education.Kanchewa, S. S., Rhodes, J. E., Schwartz, S. E. O., & Olsho, L. E. W. (2014). An investigation of same- versus cross-gender matching for boys in formal school-based mentoring programs. Applied Developmental Science.Rhodes, J. E., et al. (in preparation). Evaluating an algorithmically assisted approach to mentor-mentee matching. |
| Flash Mentoring | In an early evaluation, flash mentoring gave 363 young women access to 285 professional mentors. Mentees initiated 2,528 conversations, attended 316 meetings, and set 1,445 goals. | Rhodes, J. E., Werntz, A., Jasman, M., and Morton, D. D. (2026). Stocking the pond: Empowering young women to recruit social capital through technology-enabled flash mentoring. Youth, 6(1), 35. |
| Connected Futures MentorPRO Academy Courses | Students who took the Connected Scholars one-credit course course had 3.23 times the odds of graduating in four years compared with classmates who did not take it. In a randomized study design, the course also increased help-seeking, social capital and mentoring support. | Hersch, E., Werntz, A., Schwartz, S. E. O., Raposa, E. B., Hughes, J., Parnes, M. F., and Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Testing the effects of a social capital intervention on college student retention and academic success. American Journal of Community Psychology.Schwartz, S. E. O., Parnes, M. F., Browne, R., Austin, L., Carreiro, M., Rhodes, J. E., Kupersmidt, J., and Kanchewa, S. (2023). Teaching to fish: Impacts of a social capital intervention for college students. American Educational Research Journal. |
| MentorPRO Academy | Better grades, help-seeking, and four-year graduation | Hersch, E., Werntz, A., Schwartz, S. E. O., Raposa, E. B., Hughes, J., Parnes, M. F., and Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Testing the effects of a social capital intervention on college student retention and academic success. American Journal of Community Psychology, 77, 273 to 290. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70027Schwartz, S. E. O., Parnes, M. F., Browne, R., Austin, L., Carreiro, M., Rhodes, J. E., Kupersmidt, J., and Kanchewa, S. (2023). Teaching to fish: Impacts of a social capital intervention for college students. American Educational Research Journal, 60, 986 to 1022. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312231181096 |
| MentorAI | Human-at-the-helm design keeps mentors in charge | Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Human-at-the-helm: Redefining the role of artificial intelligence in student support. Applied Developmental Science, 1 to 12.Rhodes, J. E. (2026). Vouching towards Bethlehem: What colleges and universities owe students in the age of AI. Frontiers in Education. |
| Supportive accountability | Promising supportive accountability model to support mentees with consistent encouragement and accountability from a trusted guide | Wolfe, E. C., Werntz, A., Michel, A., Zhang, Y., Rucker, M., Boukhechba, M., Barnes, L. E., Rhodes, J. E., and Teachman, B. A. (2026). A mixed methods evaluation of a pilot open trial of a mentor-guided digital intervention for youth anxiety. PLOS Digital Health.Werntz A., Amado S., Jasman M., Ervin A., Rhodes J. E. (2023). Providing human support for the use of Digital Mental Health Interventions: Systematic meta-review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. |
| Return on investment | Retained tuition returns more than twelve times the platform's annual cost under conservative assumptions. | Hull, D., and Rhodes, J. E. (in preparation). Return on investment of technology-enabled peer mentoring. |