How Does Matching Work?

Mentor Collective’s matching algorithm is an efficient, highly effective, and configurable tool for matching your participants into mentorships - based on Mentor Collective’s matching philosophy. Mentor Collective’s matching algorithm has consistently delivered outcomes superior to matching by hand, leading to improved program outcomes. 

Algorithmic matching has been the industry standard for decades, originating with the process of matching medical residents to training programs in the 1950s. At Mentor Collective, we combine the efficiency of algorithmic matching with research-based criteria and the tools you need to customize the matching process for your individual institution.

Identifying Strong Matches

Your mentees and mentors complete a matching survey when they sign up for the program. The standard questions on the matching survey are based on our research about which criteria are essential to fostering engaged mentorships. 

These criteria are then weighted according to priority in the matching process, with additional weight given to the mentee’s top matching criterion (i.e. their response to the question: "Out of the preferences you just shared, which is the most important to you?”). For example, if they specify that it’s most important to them to be matched with someone with the same career interests, this will be given top priority in the weighting.

Generally, these are the standard criteria for matching (ranked from highest to lowest weight):

• Mentee's top matching criterion
• Desired mentor's major
• Career interests
• Desired mentoring frequency
• Academic interests
• Tell us about yourself
• Challenges
• Hobbies
• Requested age
• Languages

However, weight may vary slightly depending on program design. 

Matching Algorithm in Action

Once a sufficient pool of mentors and mentees have completed the onboarding process, the algorithm can identify strong matches. This process has two stages: 

1. Scoring. 
   • In this stage, all potential matches are evaluated.
   • We compare every single mentee to every single mentor, and use the criteria to assign a score to each potential match. 
   • The computational power of our software allows every single potential match to be evaluated according to the specified criteria. Even when there are hundreds of thousands of potential matches, the process typically completes within a few minutes.
2. Matching. 
   • In this stage, the final list of matches are produced and matched. 
   • Mentor Collective uses the Gale-Shapley algorithm to create a set of “stable matches”. In simple terms, this means the best set of matches possible for the greatest number of participants.
   • A minimum score threshold is set, to ensure that participants end up with a quality match. 
   • Participants are automatically connected with their counterparts via email and SMS, and can kick off their mentorship using the personalized conversation starters from their matching survey.

A possible side effect of this method: there may be participants who do not receive a match. There may not have been enough mentees for each mentor to be matched, or there may not have been the right mentor for a mentee. Review the Onboarding & Matching tab on your Dashboard Page, in the Partner Dashboard to see where you may want to target additional recruitment efforts.

[Webinar] Uncovering the Matching Process

FAQ 

❓What if the mentor or mentee is unhappy with their match?

❓Can the matching algorithm and/or process be customized for my program?

• We highly recommend using Mentor Collective’s best practices and research-based algorithm in order to result in the best matches. However, there are ways you customize your program’s matching process. 
• Please talk with your Mentor Collective representative about your options.

❓What does “Mentees’ Top Matching Criterion” mean? 

• Mentees are asked the following question in the matching survey: "Out of the preferences you just shared, which is the most important to you?”
• Their response(s) to that question is what we call their “top matching criterion,” which is what we consider as the most important criteria when looking for a mentor.