IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/spr/prbchp/978-3-032-09683-8_9.html

Mentoring: A Tool for Skills Development

In: Human Resource Development for Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Author

Listed:
  • Joana Araújo

    (CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic of Porto)

  • Paulino Silva

    (CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic of Porto)

  • Anabela Mesquita

    (CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic of Porto)

Abstract

This paper introduces a Mentoring Course developed as part of the European+ Project “Digital freelancing for higher education students and recent graduates (DiFree)”. The DiFree project aims to bridge the gap between academic training and the evolving digital freelance market, equipping students and recent university graduates with essential skills for self-employment. The article highlights that traditional higher education often fails to prepare students for entrepreneurial and independent careers, leading to a lack of confidence and crucial practical skills. The mentoring course, implemented on a Moodle platform, consists of eight modules covering topics from key concepts to essential mentoring skills. Each module includes explanatory videos, supporting materials, and knowledge validation questionnaires. Its main objectives are to facilitate the transition to the job market, enhance autonomy and confidence, promote networking, and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit. The program offers personalized support and practical skill development to help students navigate challenges like client and time management. While acknowledging challenges such as mentor availability and mentee commitment, the course’s personalized approach and focus on digital competencies are identified as key strengths for fostering successful freelance careers.

Suggested Citation

  • Joana Araújo & Paulino Silva & Anabela Mesquita, 2026. "Mentoring: A Tool for Skills Development," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: Isabel Novo-Corti & Xose Picatoste & Marco Valeri (ed.), Human Resource Development for Sustainability and Social Responsibility, chapter 0, pages 111-117, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-09683-8_9
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-09683-8_9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-09683-8_9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.