The Structure of Social Networks and Its Link to Higher Education Students' Socio-Emotional Loneliness During COVID-19.

Lonely students typically underperform academically. According to several studies, the COVID-19 pandemic is an important risk factor for increases in loneliness, as the contact restrictions and the switch to mainly online classes potentially burden the students. The previously familiar academic environment (campus), as well as the exchange with peers and lecturers on site, were no longer made available.

The Supporting Role of Mentees' Peers in Online Mentoring: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis of Peer Influence.

Studies show that online mentoring is an effective measure to support girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), especially if it also allows for networking with other participants on the mentoring platform. However, research is missing on peer influence. This topic seems especially crucial in programs for adolescents as peer influence plays an important role at this age.

Nine years of online mentoring for secondary school girls in STEM: an empirical comparison of three mentoring formats.

Online mentoring can be useful for supporting girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Yet, little is known about the differential effects of various online mentoring formats. We examine the general and relative effectiveness of three online mentoring formats, one-on-one mentoring, many-to-many group mentoring, and a hybrid form of the two.

Spaces of possibilities: a theoretical analysis of mentoring from a regulatory perspective.

A review of the literature on the effectiveness of mentoring reveals a paradox: on the one hand, there is evidence that mentoring can be highly effective. On the other hand, meta-analyses usually only show small to moderate effect sizes, and sometimes even negative effects. To better understand this mentoring paradox, we discuss three fundamental problems in mentoring research.

Creative, Thus Connected: The Power of Sociometric Creativity on Friendship Formation in Gifted Adolescents-A Longitudinal Network Analysis of Gifted Students.

The current study's purpose is to explore the influence of peer-perceived creativity (sociometric creativity) on the short-term development of friendships during a summer program for high ability students. Specifically, the two main objectives of our study are: (1) How did students' friendships network and sociometric creativity network evolve in the summer program? (2) How did sociometric creativity influence the friendship formation? The longitudinal study was conducted at the beginning, middle and the end of a 3-week long program for gifted students in Ireland. The sample consisted of Irish gifted students (N = 702, aged 13-18 years, 52% female, over thirty-one classes).