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The purpose of the study was to examine graduate student perspectives on the common and unique roles peer mentors and supervisors play in supporting student success and wellbeing during their program.

A qualitative research design involving semistructured interviews with 62 thesis-based masters and doctoral students from four professional faculties, Education, Medicine, Nursing and Social Work, at a large public research-intensive university in Canada.

Findings transcend the four disciplines of study. Communities of support are described that involve both supervisors and peers in combination, clusters of meaning by supervisory paradigm are identified and original findings presented that expand upon the learning alliance framework by explicitly considering the role of peer mentors in graduate student success.

While supervisors bear primary responsibility for fostering effective research-based relationships, this study’s findings strengthen the argument that mentoring and advising of graduate students is most effective when conducted within a collaborative community of support that involves learning alliances among faculty, peers, program staff and academic leaders across the institution.

A four-pronged approach to graduate education that emphasizes the collective responsibility of institutions, programs, supervisors and students in creating a supportive ecosystem for holistic graduate student academic success and wellbeing is recommended.

Key argument that it is essential to embrace a collaborative and community of support mindset, where multiple stakeholders actively contribute to the wellbeing and academic development of graduate students throughout their programs.

A cross-disciplinary perspective is offered on the importance of both supervisors and peers in assisting thesis-based graduate students to successfully navigate academic, social and personal journeys through graduate school.

This study aims to deepen knowledge of consumers’ attitudes towards circular economy products by focusing on the enabling factors that influence their behaviours. The success of the closed-loop economy depends not only on innovation but also on the active participation of the consumer. In these models, the authors witness the transition from the centrality of production to the centrality of use. This paper investigates Italian consumers’ tendency to purchase second-hand products in the clothing sector, one of the most polluting industrial sectors, focusing on the enabling factors that influence their behaviours, the reasons for their purchases and the existence of differences between market segments.

To accomplish this aim, a two-step investigation was carried out: a literature review and a quantitative analysis through a snowball survey involving 963 individuals, noting that non-random sampling restricts the validity of the findings within the considered sub-set of the Italian population. Statistical analyses were performed using the R 4.1.2 software environment along with Rstudio IDE v.1.4.1106 and the packages FactoMineR for cluster analysis and vcd for mosaic plots.

Environmental knowledge/awareness and solidarity values have a significant positive effect on consumers’ attitudes and purchasing behaviour towards circular products within the selected sample. A strong statistically significant association (p-value ≪ 0.01) is confirmed between those who consciously purchase sustainable clothing and those who are members/supporters of environmental associations, know sustainable brands and the advantages of the circular economy. Significant relations also emerged in reference to gender and age. In detail, the purchasing of sustainable clothing was found to be positively associated with females and generation Y respondents. Theoretical, institutional and managerial implications stem from the experimental findings of this study.

This study investigates the point of view of demand. From this perspective, this paper proposes a consumer engagement paradigm that highlights the motivations and enabling factors prompting participation in circular economy processes and affecting purchasing practices and attitudes towards second-hand clothing products with regard to Italian consumers.