Gender-Differentiated Mentoring Responsiveness
RCTClinical Trial
Comprehensive case management and relational mentoring interventions produce markedly uneven academic returns across male and female students in higher education. Female community college students show massive gains in college persistence and graduation, whereas male students demonstrate no statistically significant improvements.
Picture this
Relational mentoring functions like a copilot offering personalized route corrections during a journey; female drivers readily establish trust with the copilot and alter their route accordingly, whereas male drivers engage in conversation with the copilot but resist internalizing the advice to change their navigation habits.
What the evidence says
Treatment-on-the-Treated (TOT) associate degree completion for female participants tripled (31.5 percentage point increase, p < 0.05) off a 15.7% control group mean, while male outcomes showed no significant impact (ITT = -0.025, standard error = 0.040). Standalone Action: Pair male postsecondary students with gender-matched mentors and structure coaching frameworks to specifically address gender-based differences in advising receptivity.
- Who was studied
- Subsample of N = 569 female students and N = 300 male students from the main RCT trial sample at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluated using OLS Intent-to-Treat (ITT) and 2SLS Instrumental Variable Treatment-on-the-Treated (TOT) models.
From the source
"Data from school administrative records indicate that the comprehensive case management program significantly increases persistence and degree completion, especially for women."
Increasing Community College Completion Rates among Low-Income Students: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of a Case Management Intervention