Online peer-mentoring for the development of cultural intelligence

Mangion-Thornley, Karine

Abstract

Cultural intelligence (CQ) and intercultural competence have repeatedly been identified as key skills for the development of future global leaders and the recruitment of young graduates. This case study presents an innovative use of peer-mentoring to develop global leadership skills and the cultural intelligence of students in Business and Management BA programmes. Specifically, it details how to engage students undertaking their Study Period Abroad (SPA) and students in their last year of BA in International Business in an online peer-mentoring scheme. This experiential activity was a core element of the module assessment strategy, which draws on social learning and assessing for learning approaches. The context in which the peer-mentoring scheme was deployed is a private university in London, composed of a highly diverse international body of students, coming from more than 140 nationalities. The paper highlights the impacts of the peer-mentoring scheme for the mentors and mentees, based on the students’ self-reflection on their learning. Also, it outlines the benefits and drawbacks in operationalising the scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as suggestions for using a similar scheme in the future.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Conference 2021
• Start Date: Jun 29, 2021
• End Date: Jun 30, 2021
• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 2, 2022
• Pages: 27-31
• Book Title: LTSE 2021 Conference Proceedings
• Keywords: Mentoring, cultural intelligence, higher education
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9089170
• Publisher URL: https://charteredabs.org/events/ltse2021/