In Simple Words
One-on-one peer mentoring acts like hiring a local driving instructor to sit in the passenger seat instead of taking a classroom driver's education course. While having a veteran guide gives immediate custom advice, the driver often loses momentum and reverts to old habits as soon as the paid instructor stops riding along.
New women entrepreneurs in Kenya
- Study comparison group
- Comparison short-term profits
- One-to-one peer mentoring
- 20% higher short-term profits
New women entrepreneurs in Kenya. The review reports a short-term gain that faded after one year as mentor payments ended; it does not establish an exactly zero later effect.
See source →Research question
Classroom training can cause information overload for microentrepreneurs, leading program designers to offer individual peer mentorship. However, mentorship impacts frequently fail to persist over time once financial compensation for mentors is discontinued.
Participants
Human microentrepreneurs (new female business owners in Kenya, as well as enterprise owners in Ethiopia across 3 evaluations).
Study Design
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) assessing peer mentoring interventions over short- and long-term horizons.
Results
Female microentrepreneurs in Kenya paired with mentors increased short-term profits by 20%, but these profit gains completely vanished after one year when mentor stipends ended; two additional mentorship studies in Kenya and Ethiopia showed no long-term impact on firm performance.
Takeaway
Evaluate the long-term sustainability and mentor compensation structure before scaling one-on-one business mentorship programs.