The Importance of Mentoring the Youth to Help Develop Leaders
Background of the study
The Latino community is among the fastest growing minority groups in America constituting 15.6% of the total American population according to a 2016 United States census bureau report. The Hispanic population crime levels are increasing faster than their black and white counterparts with the population accounting for 46% of youth gang related crimes according to a National Youth Gang Survey (Carnall & Roebuck, 2015). The increased crime rates are attributed to the socio economic status of the community which is determined by literacy levels, income levels, and occupation status. As part of the minority population in America, the Latinos literacy levels are low with 61.7% of the population holding only high school diplomas or lower with the Hispanic poverty rate being the second largest at 21.4% (Bowers, 2016). These statistics show that the Latino population's socio economic status is low and research shows that there is a correlation between low socio economic status and crime rates (Reese & Loane, 2012). The result has been young people dropping out of school to join gangs, engaging in criminal activities like robbery and drug trafficking, drug abuse, and other delinquent behaviors (Atwater, 2015). If the future of the Latino community is to be saved, the need for a mentorship program to keep the youth away from gangs and crime is critical.
Statement of the problem
The high illiteracy and poverty levels are the leading causes of delinquency among the Latina youth (Checkoway & Gutiérrez, 2012). The result has been gang affiliations, imprisonment, death when escaping from the police or gang related deaths, insecurity and the continuing of the poverty cycle (MacGregor, 2015). If the Latino youth are to survive and make something out of their lives, they need a mentorship program to keep them focused on education and meaningful living to suppress the temptation of joining gangs and using drugs (Murphy & Reichard, 2012). It is imperative for the youths to have Latino role models and mentors who grew under the same circumstances as them and overcame (Clark, 2015). The mentorship of the young people who will be future leaders is, therefore, a necessity that will help reduce crime rates, break the poverty cycle, improve the community's socio economic status and uplift the youth in the community.
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Research questions
What factors do the youths identify as influential in their trajectory towards becoming leaders and why?
How do mentors influence the youths’ desires and aspirations to become leaders and why?
What are the positive impacts accrued from youth leadership mentorship to the community as a whole?
Purpose of the study
The primary objective of this study is to explore the role mentorship plays in developing young leaders (Engel & Schutt, 2013). In an attempt to examine the factors that spark the youths' interest in leadership, three research questions were developed. The first question aimed to identify the factors young potential leaders consider influential towards their future role as leaders to identify how mentorship factors into the process of building young leaders. The second question sought to identify the effect that mentors have on the young people's perspectives on leadership while the last question examined the benefits realized from mentorship towards building young leaders (Rumsey, 2013). Qualitative research will be used since the study seeks to understand underlying benefits of mentorship on youth leadership development together with interview data from purposive sampling from the Latino population.
Significance of the study
The study findings will contribute to the current body of research on the topic of youth leadership and the role that mentorship plays in the process (Chandra & Sharma, 2013). Also, the study will play an informative role to other researchers, academicians, and organizations that deal with youth leadership development and mentorship (Engel & Schutt, 2013). The findings will also play an important role in the justification of using mentorship as an indirect way to improve the socio economic status of communities through youth transformation.
Nature of the study
A qualitative study will be conducted involving Latino youths and their mentors using interviews and questionnaires because the researchers will need information from the past and continuing mentorship sessions to determine the effect it has on the general young population (Chandra & Sharma, 2013). The study will pick a sample size of twenty-four people comprising of ten youths currently enrolled in a leadership mentorship program, ten past beneficiaries of the program and four mentors. The sampled population will be interviewed and questionnaires administered in the data collection process with the key variables being age, the level of education, leadership positions and mentorship positions (Engel & Schutt, 2013). Further, the study will ensure data reliability by ensuring strict conformity to research objectives and picking an unbiased sample population that represents a broad spectrum of data followed by objective data collection and analysis.
Hypotheses
Mentorship lowers the protégé's desire to engage in criminal activities, increases their willingness to stay in school and to embrace leadership roles among peers and in the community later in life.
Mentors who are part of the community are more effective at imparting leadership desire in youths since they are considered as role models for having lived under the same conditions and emerged successful in life.
Mentorship is crucial for socio-economic transformation one of the main aims of leadership.
References
Atwater, L. (2015). Applied leadership development . Place of publication not identified: Routledge.
Bowers, E. P. (2016). Promoting Positive Youth Development . Place of Publication Not Identified: Springer International Pu.
Carnall, C. A., & Roebuck, C. (2015). Strategic leadership development: building world-class performance . London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chandra, S., & Sharma, M. K. (2013). Research Methodology . New Delhi: Narosa Publishing House.
Checkoway, B., & Gutiérrez, L. M. (2012). Youth participation and community change . New York: Routledge.
Clark, C. (2015). Youth ministry in the 21st century: five views . Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Engel, R. J., & Schutt, R. K. (2013). The practice of research in social work . Los Angeles: SAGE.
MacGregor, M. G. (2015). Building everyday leadership in all teens: promoting attitudes and actions for respect and success . Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.
Murphy, S. E., & Reichard, R. J. (2012). Early development and leadership: building the next generation of leaders . London: Routledge Academic.
Reese, R. D., & Loane, R. (2012). Deep mentoring: guiding others on their leadership journey . Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books.
Rumsey, M. G. (2013). The Oxford handbook of leadership . New York: Oxford University Press.
