Mentoring India’s Youth

India has seen substantial improvement in access to education nationwide, but there are concerns about the quality of education and consequently, the employability of school and college graduates. Large numbers of India’s youth also face the problem of inequality of opportunity. Families and communities that do not have ‘cultural capital’ (years of schooling, access to resources and information networks) find it a challenge to nurture talent in their children. In this article we discuss one intervention—mentoring—that has the potential to address these two challenges simultaneously. This article reports on an experimental year-long mentoring programme for 20 destitute girls, living in a government institution in south India. Participant experience shows that there is little knowledge of the formal mentoring function in India, and a sense of fear associated with adult–youth relationships. In the mentoring programme, these notions were dispelled as the relationships developed. Mentees recorded a change of attitude in learning English. The life skill exercises helped mentees plan for their future, and in some cases thwart early-marriage pressures. Mentoring functions like providing emotional regulation and collaborative skill-building were demonstrated in mentors helping mentees overcome fear in public speaking, examinations, speech defects, etc. Mentees recorded a change in their identity—they saw themselves as more capable. The relationship offered avenues for authentic companionship and several mentees saw their mentors as role models. These results show potential for formal youth mentoring programmes to have considerable positive impact on India’s youth and enable them to become capable, confident and empowered.