Purpose This study investigates whether mentoring, when designed as an experiential learning intervention within a professional graduate course, is associated with measurable improvements in mentoring capability among working professionals. Design/methodology/approach Using a pre–post design, data were collected from 41 full-time working professionals who completed three structured mentoring projects within an online coaching and mentoring certificate course. Students served as mentors in authentic contexts through faculty coaching, peer mentoring circles, and guided reflection. Mentoring capability was assessed across five dimensions before and after the intervention. Findings Students demonstrated significant improvements across all mentoring dimensions (i.e. relationship-building, goal-setting, communication, expertise, and problem-solving) and in overall mentoring capability. Normalized gain analyses indicated substantial growth relative to participants' baseline skill levels. Originality/value The study reconceptualizes mentoring as a structured pedagogical practice and provides empirical evidence that scaffolded, work-based mentoring can systematically develop professional capability in higher education.
Krause et al. (Thu,) studied this question.