Board Member Interview: Eric Bettinger

Written By: Eliquetzal Gutierrez

There is no doubt that the guidance given by someone who is experienced in a field of study or career, is invaluable, especially to those who are the first in their family to pursue higher education. For these individuals, such guidance or mentorship becomes crucial to the accomplishment of educational achievements. In simple terms, a mentor is defined as, “an experienced and trusted advisor”. When mentors earn the trust of their mentees, the base for positive interactions is secure and the mentor becomes a reliable guide who one can confide in during stressful or confusing times. 

I recently interviewed one of The Reach Foundation’s Board of Directors, Eric Bettinger, a Stanford professor in the School of Education. In addition to his profession as an instructor at the university, Eric is a research associate for education in the National Bureau of Economic Research. From his research, we will be highlighting the value of mentorship as he’s compared the experiences of students who have and haven’t been mentored. Fundamentally, he has found that students who are mentored do better in school and make better decisions that aid them in graduating from college. 

Eric’s favorability of students being mentored not only derives from the results of his research but is enhanced by his personal experience. In the process of becoming a professor, a handful of professors at different levels have helped Eric make key decisions for his career. He shares, “When I speak and counsel about something, my decisions go from being good to great. It is always better to have someone to make better decisions”. Through such conversations, mentors counsel with their mentees and help magnify their ability to make wise decisions for their educational or professional life. 

In essence, the worth of mentors exponentially increases when discussing the usefulness of mentorship in the lives of first generation students. Eric has found that mentors provide advice that these students cannot receive elsewhere. Moreover, Eric attributes this struggle to the reality that, “first generation students often don’t have a role model or someone who can help them. They don’t have a family member to call when making decisions for their education”. These mentors help their students learn to navigate their way through the systems, nuances and decision making of higher education that easily become barriers between the student and their professional success. 

Nevertheless, mentors are not expected to know all or provide every solution to a mentee. Rather, Eric suggests mentors are the conduit to obtain information and find resources that a mentee would otherwise have not considered from a lack of awareness. He has found that when students don’t know what to do in an academic, emotional or any category of struggles, having someone to talk to makes all the difference. This gap of knowledge or unawareness is essentially what The Reach Foundation strives to address in pairing mentors to their first generation, low income college students. By providing students with mentors who are willing to make the calls, be creative and counsel with their students, The Reach Foundation is in agreement with Dr. Bettinger as mentorship greatly impacts the life of a rising professional in highly positive ways.