THE INFLUENCE AND IMPACT OF A MENTORING PROGRAM

The Influence and Impact of a Mentoring Program



CHAPTER 04: DISCUSSION

The Influence and Impact of a Mentoring Program

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine the overall impact of the Beaux Affair Rites of Passage Mentoring Program (BAROPMP). The researcher wanted to demonstrate overall program effectiveness through a seminal relationship between mentoring and African centered rites of passage and its impact on African American adolescent men, who were high school juniors and seniors during their participation. (In 1990 this program was established by David Floyd in Charleston, SC)

The researcher utilized a mixed study to determine the longitudinal effects of the BAROPMP program on Black males. The researcher used data from a span of 21 years. Three groups were established to distinguish the span of years and time between each group to determine any distinguishable factors or differences in program impact. The three groups of BAROPMP graduates and current participants utilized in this study were years 1990-1996 (Group ONE), 1997-2003 (Group TWO), and 2009-2010 (Group THREE). The researcher thought both the qualitative and quantitative methods revealed attributes which contributed to overall BAROPMP popularity, effectiveness, and thus captured program features and activities that most attracted interest and desire to participate in BAROPMP. The researcher collected ordinal data to obtain a mean and a standard deviation for the three groups of participants who had already successfully graduated from the program.

Research Question One: Education and Career Choice

The first research question of the Beaux Affair study was whether program participation impacted completion of high school, pathway to higher education and decision-making with career choice. Variables from PLAIS Questions 21 and 22 (Appendix ) were used to generate SPSS analysis and analysis comparison between Groups ONE and TWO. The variables were career choice, high school graduation, higher education, and grades. A quantitative one-way MANCOVA analysis or a multivariate analysis of covariance was performed. A final variable used by the researcher was a covariate to examine the true impact of the BAROPMP; this allowed for some validity on the program's educational impact through the use of PLAIS question 4, which asked whether the Beaux Affair graduate was from a single parent household. For this the researcher was guided by research on the number of parents in the home and educational outcomes. To further validate and explain the quantitative findings of question one, the researcher used PLAIS questions 12, 17, 18, and 19 for qualitative findings.

Research Question Two: Role as Father, Husband, Mentor

The second research question of the Beaux Affair study was its influence and impact on graduates' roles as fathers, husbands, and mentors. The researcher used three variables from PLAIS question 21 namely mentor, father, children; PLAIS question 2 was used as a quantitative variable for analysis to determine impact through the use of two variables: self-esteem before the program and self-esteem after the program. PLAIS question 4 (household) was used as a covariate and selfesteem1 was used as a second ...