Participatory research approaches to studying social capital in youth mentoring: Not the panacea we hoped for

Participatory approaches have gained broad interest among researchers as a vehicle for allowing participants’ experiences and voices to inform research, beyond simply being a source of data. However, participants in mentoring programs, particularly young people, often are not included in research partnerships in a meaningful way. Additionally, practitioners often struggle to translate research findings into program improvements. This paper examines the experiences of a research team collaborating with two user groups: mentoring practitioners, and youth with migrant and refugee backgrounds participating in mentoring programs. With ambitions for meaningful user involvement, our aim was to develop and test a digital intervention for supporting social capital in mentoring. The paper draws primarily upon participant observation and qualitative data from a focus group and panel discussions. While youth voices did inform and shape the research, we also experienced challenges related to youth understanding and engagement. The adult practitioners participated actively but encountered tensions due to their dual roles as co-researchers and mentoring professionals, and resource constraints. Ultimately, a close collaboration enabled the co-creation of adaptations to our research approaches, allowing meaningful participation for some of the youth, and facilitating program changes. This paper offers lessons for researchers wishing to conduct participatory research in the context of youth mentoring, as well as specific suggestions for those studying social capital. It contributes to the discussion on participatory approaches with multicultural youth, presenting critical reflections on our experiences within this mentoring context.