Why India needs a mentoring movement

Why India needs a mentoring movement

India stands at a pivotal moment. More than 40 million young people are in higher education, and over 10 million are entering the labour market every year. It is crucial that we equip them with the skills, confidence, and networks they need to thrive.

Recent policy initiatives reflect a growing focus on strengthening the education-to-employment pipeline — through upgraded skilling institutions, expanded internship opportunities, and measures to support young people in their first jobs. These are important efforts. But policy and infrastructure alone cannot bridge the gap between learning and livelihood.

This gap is deeply human. It shows up in the fears, uncertainties, and limited exposure that young people, especially first-generation learners, carry as they step into adulthood. It shows up in young women who complete degrees and training but struggle to enter or stay in the workforce because of norms, safety constraints, and low confidence. It shows up in those who possess equal talent but not equal access to opportunity. These challenges have intensified as Artificial Intelligence reshapes entry-level work.

Bridging the gap

We need a way to bridge this gap. LinkedIn data show that employers are increasingly seeking human-centric skills — communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and leadership. How do we cultivate these skills?

The answer lies in mentoring. Around the world, mentoring has proven to be a powerful tool for supporting young people through key transitions. Mentoring bridges the space between what systems provide and what young people need at a personal level: someone who listens, understands their context, helps them articulate aspirations, and navigates uncertainty alongside them.

Mentoring has particular resonance for India because it responds directly to inequalities in access to opportunity. Our work building India’s mentoring movement through Mentor Together for over 15 years shows that high-quality mentoring significantly improves career decision-making, social intelligence, self-efficacy beliefs, and gender attitudes around work.

This is especially powerful for young women, who enter higher education on par with men; yet fewer than 40% with advanced qualifications participate in the labour force. LinkedIn data show that the median network strength for men is 8.3 percentile points higher than that of women, and job seekers are four times more likely to secure employment where they already have connections. When young women enhance their networks and meet mentors who understand their realities, it expands their sense of what is possible. Like it did for Bindu, a student at a government engineering college, who found apprenticeship opportunities through mentoring that led to a full-time role at the BT Group. As India strives to increase women’s economic participation, mentoring becomes a crucial enabler — for entry into work, retention, and progression.

Governments are beginning to integrate mentoring within mainstream systems. The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has built mentoring into the National Career Service platform. State governments in Karnataka and Telangana are implementing mentoring at scale across collegiate and technical education. This marks a crucial shift: mentoring is not an extra, but an essential component of building human capability.

A recent gathering of over 400 experts and practitioners at India’s second annual Mentoring Summit highlighted the need for a national architecture rooted in quality, inclusion, and intentional design, supported by clear standards for mentor training and conduct, structured and evidence-aligned curricula, strong monitoring and safeguarding systems, and digital platforms that expand access while preserving human connection.

Towards a nation of mentors

The time is ripe for India to launch a national mentoring movement. This requires massive collective action across a range of stakeholders. Governments can create the policy architecture that enables mentoring to become a structural part of education, skilling, and employment systems. Non-profits build training, safeguarding, and curriculum frameworks; demonstrate what works; and support institutions to implement mentoring consistently and with quality. Corporates can mobilise volunteers and networks — opening pathways many young people would never otherwise access. The LinkedIn Coaches Program is one example: employees volunteer their time to offer one-on-one coaching, networking guidance, and mock interview preparation to young job seekers from underserved backgrounds. Since 2015, this has supported more than one million young adults across tier 2 and tier 3 engineering colleges. When companies embed mentoring within CSR and leadership development strategies, they strengthen young people’s access to opportunity while building empathetic, skilled leaders within their own workforce. Philanthropy can fund long-term infrastructure — technology, research, and capacity building. Researchers can test what works, for whom, and at what cost, building evidence that strengthens design, improves outcomes, and informs policy and investment decisions.

Ultimately, mentoring is about people stepping forward to support the next generation. If even a fraction of India’s working professionals mentor one young person a year, we could unlock a shift in opportunity and aspiration at a national scale.