Mentoring for Positive Youth Development
A special issue of Youth (ISSN 2673-995X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2999
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue will explore the transformative role of mentoring in positive youth development. Grounded in an asset-based framework, the issue will emphasize how mentoring practices can be embedded in systems to support meaningful learning and development through mentor-rich environments. A central theme is that multiple mentors—including educators, community members, and near-peers—collectively contribute to a young person’s growth by building their social capital, reinforcing their sense of belonging, affirming their identity, and fostering positive relationships.
We welcome both outcome-oriented studies and research that addresses access to formal and informal mentoring relationships, as well as the development and impact of social capital. Recognizing that supportive adult relationships can take many forms, this issue embraces a broad and inclusive definition of mentoring. We invite contributions that explore how helpful relationships with adults—whether formal or informal, individual or group-based, peer-to-adult or near-peer—can be intentionally woven into the everyday lives of young people. This flexible approach allows for diverse models of mentoring that reflect the realities of youth development across varied contexts and communities.
Contributors will highlight strategies for cultivating supportive ecosystems where mentoring is not incidental but intentional, sustained, and culturally responsive. The issue will give special attention to how minoritized and marginalized youth benefit from mentoring relationships, particularly in contexts that promote improved outcomes and resilience.
This issue also welcomes submissions that reflect the diverse ways mentoring can be embedded in youth-serving systems. We are especially interested in work that examines mentoring as a source of social capital, explores culturally responsive practices that affirm marginalized youth, and investigates how mentor-rich environments can be intentionally cultivated across educational and community contexts. Research that centers youth voice in the co-creation of mentoring systems, tracks the long-term impact of informal mentoring, or highlights the role of supportive relationships during key life transitions is also encouraged. Through these varied lenses, the issue aims to showcase mentoring as a dynamic and systemic force for resilience and equity in youth development.
Dr. Grace Gowdy
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Youth is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- positive youth development
- mentoring
- social capital
- asset-based practices
- minoritized youth
- marginalized youth
- access to mentoring
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