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Ricerche di Psicologia/Psychological Research Journal - Open Access

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Leading students, building a professional identity: Group mentoring as personal growth

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rip2025oa20226
Submitted
maggio 21, 2025
Published
2025-07-17

Abstract

This paper analyzes the peer tutoring experience at a large university in northern Italy. The objective is to understand whether the mentoring experience promote tutors’ development of soft skills by increasing the perceived level of employability in the labor market. The insights are based on a study conducted with a group of former students who are now active in the labor market. Research adopted a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured narrative interviews in the aim of investigating how through the tutorship experience during the university period enabled to improve the perceived employability through the training of soft skills. Thirty tutors were interviewed; inclusion criteria required that they graduated between five and ten years ago and that they had a perceived positive and satisfactory placement in the world of work. The collected material was analyzed using a qualitative methodology, based on a content analysis approach, and revealed several skills that – according to the interviewees ‒ were solicited through their tutorship experience. These skills proved to be useful and generated a competitive advantage for graduates both while entering the labor market and in the subsequent consolidation of their professional careers. The evoked skills were grouped into four clusters that highlighted how the opportunity to early experience relationships aimed at achieving a productive goal is an important lever for increasing the perception of employability.

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