Mentorship scheme needs a clear focus to deliver for Hong Kong’s underprivileged students

While the strive and rise programme has come together quickly, there are concerns about the motivation of mentors and lack of structure
Pairing mentors with industry veterans, providing sponsorship and having a clear plan will show that the government is committed to real change

Kenny Lam

Published: 12:30pm, 12 Jan 2023

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The government’s Strive and Rise Mentorship Programme, led by Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki, aims to address intergenerational poverty by mentoring students from low-income families, mainly those who live in subdivided flats. It began in late November and has accepted some 2,800 students, against the initial target of 2,000, in the first year.

At first glance, mentorship makes sense. It locates a problem – the lack of role models and social capital for underprivileged students – and provides an intuitive solution by matching them with volunteers.

However, some of the research carried out on mentorship programmes paints a rather different picture. David DuBois, chair of the research board at the US government-funded National Mentoring Resource Centre, concluded in some of his most cited meta-analysis papers that, on average, mentorship programmes have only small effects on participants’ intended outcomes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, running a mentorship programme well is difficult. There are many moving parts in mentorship, and not getting everything to gel can lead to a reduction in the programme’s effectiveness.

How is the strive and rise programme faring? Ivan Chong, one of the programme’s earliest mentors and the initiator of a self-organised group of mentors on LinkedIn, has expressed some concerns, despite his generally positive feedback about the programme.

While he praised the programme for putting together a large quantity of mentors, students and activities in a short period of time, he said the motivation of some mentors and lack of structure could hurt the effectiveness of the programme. Some mentors were asked to join by their companies, he said, and there was no formal event calendar and activities were held at short notice.

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Research has illuminated the elements needed for a good mentorship programme. First, training is important. However, it is worth noting that while ongoing training of mentors is important in improving participants’ outcomes, one-off initial training sessions are not.

Second, the mentor’s background matters. The social status and gender of mentors do not appear to contribute significantly, but having mentors with backgrounds in helping roles or professions, such as teachers or parents, does.

Finally, parental involvement and structured activities help mentors and mentees build more trusting and long-lasting relationships. These are essential for mentorship programmes to have a real impact on young people.

Considering the research evidence, there are clearly ways to improve the programme to achieve better outcomes and meet our society’s challenges. To begin with, the programme could combine the forces of mentors with helping backgrounds and industry veterans to form a three-way mentorship.

While the mentors are responsible for supporting and interacting with mentees more regularly, industry veterans could provide insight and opportunities for students to achieve their aspirations. Both groups of mentors should be supported throughout the programme to develop skills to build mutual, trusting and empathetic relationships with their mentees.

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Building on the previous point, mentees need sponsorship as well as mentorship. In addition to being a concept established in the workplace, mentorship also applies to students in need. Besides helping mentees directly, mentors should be publicists, advocates and guarantors for their mentees, in a similar way to how they would go out of their way to seek out for opportunities for their own children.

Next, the monetary reward that is part of the current programme should be considered. As students will receive up to HK$10,000 (US$1,300) as part of the programme, it is necessary to be sensitive to the power dynamics and motivations of mentees.

For example, mentees will not have the right mindset to learn if their parents encouraged them to join the scheme for the reward alone. Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer Jnr has conducted randomised trials in more than 200 schools on whether monetary rewards lead to better learning outcomes and concluded that the effect is “statistically zero”.

Finally, the programme should have a clear and constructive evaluation plan that is focused on development and collaboration from its inception. Most importantly, the evaluation should not be treated as a means for scrutiny but a way for the programme to grow and improve.

Ensuring this mentorship programme is a success is important. There are, of course, the futures of 2,800 students to consider, but it is also important because it represents something bigger. The programme was among the first initiatives proposed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu after his inauguration.

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It is also one of the largest of its kind, raising HK$140 million from more than 120 leading organisations acting as partners of the programme. While eager to contribute, these industry leaders will be evaluating the impact of this programme to determine their support for future government-run social innovations.

We can all commend Lee’s determination to solve 365 problems in a year, one each day. Coming up with ideas is easy, turning them into action is the hard part. Will the government keep an open mind and improve the existing programme in future, or will it be complacent about the programme and perhaps even let it fade away after the pilot scheme?

Whatever the outcome, this flagship initiative will be an indicator of the administration’s attitude towards creating actual, long-lasting change as opposed to short-term public-relations spectacles.

Kenny Lam is a Master of Education student in learning design, innovation and technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He co-founded the student mentorship organisation Boundless

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