Abstract:

Nowadays’ educational model within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requires more student commitment to their education. In this challenge, mentoring provides an effective guidance for students that are starting their university education, and it also fosters their active participation in their competency development supported by a mentor.
The first mentoring programs applied in higher or university education come from Anglo-Saxon universities experiences (Fraile Lobato et al. (2004)) and focused on different purposes like helping those students who show major deficiencies in their learning process of specific subjects; helping students to acquire skills and supplementing their training; preventing failures; integrating foreign students, etc.
At Universidad Europea, mentoring is a developmental relationship in which an experienced person (mentor, advisor, coach, guide, teacher, etc.) provides guidance and support to another (usually younger) person with the mutually agreed aim of helping them grow by developing certain specific competencies. In the university context, this process should broaden, deepen and focus on the knowledge gained from the degree program itself, stimulating an interest in lifelong learning. However, the benefits of mentoring for students are not only related to the academic and professional sphere, but also to their development as human beings.
Since the 2012/2013 academic year, Universidad Europea is implementing a mentoring program for their students to foster their competency development. Mentoring activities related to competency development have formed part of the education our students receive. At our University, mentoring involves guiding and supporting students so as to gradually develop their emotional intelligence and certain cross-disciplinary competencies, meaning basic, interdisciplinary behaviors common to different professionals in different fields. In this paper, we will explore this particular approach and the main elements that support its development: mentor training program, mentor resources and digital environments.

Keywords:

Mentoring, higher education, competency development, guidance.