Introduction. International students face significant challenges during the transition to higher education, including acculturative stress, burnout, and adjustment difficulties. Incorporating peer mentorship into academic programs has attracted a lot of interest from around the world as a way to assist these international students. To play our part, we developed a systematic peer mentorship program to improve the cultural adaptation, satisfaction, and well-being of international master's students by offering a consistent support structure throughout their adjustment period.
Purpose. This study extends previous work done by 2024 University of Valencia WOPP Research Committee, which primarily examined the overall effectiveness of the WOP-P Peer Mentorship Program. Unlike the earlier evaluation, this follow-up study not only tests program impact but also investigates the specific mechanisms by which perceived mentoring behaviors enhance generalized self-efficacy, which in turn contributes to psychological well-being, program satisfaction, sociocultural adaptation, and reduced burnout by testing a two-wave model incorporating qualitative and quantitative methodology over a span of 6 months.
Method. Participants are first-year international students (n = 46) enrolled in the Erasmus Mundus WOP-P Master's program (2025-2026), paired with second-year mentors (n = 33) across four European universities. Data will be collected in two waves: baseline at program entry (October) and follow-up before departure to the host university (February). Validated scales were used alongside monthly reflection logs. Analyses included descriptive statistics, reliability checks, correlations, and mediation models.
Results. We hypothesize that increases in perceived mentoring behaviors between T1 and T2 will be positively associated with psychological well-being, program satisfaction, and cultural adaptation, and negatively associated with burnout. Moreover, we further expect that these effects will be significantly mediated by increases in generalized self-efficacy.
Conclusions. These key findings will offer a validated model for institutions to improve international student support, highlighting targeted mentorship as a key intervention for fostering adjustment and preventing burnout.