Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T10:44:34.398Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reflections on Mentoring: Black Women and the Academy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2004

Julia S. Jordan-Zachery
Julia S. Jordan-Zachery
Affiliation:
Howard University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Mentoring is generally defined as a relationship involving guiding, nurturing, and teaching (both formally and informally) between individuals with differing degrees of experience (Adams 1998; Colwell 1998; Rowley 1999). The mentoring process, in and outside the walls of academia, is often cited as a key ingredient in the development of a successful career. However, for many Black women in academia their ability to benefit from mentoring relationships is particularly limited. As part of my involvement in the APSA Mentoring Task Force, I am exploring the concept of mentoring among Black women. I focus on Black women for several reasons. First, I am a member of this group and have a particular interest in exploring the nuances of mentoring. My identification with this group has made me privy to a number of discussions on mentoring, both positive and negative. Second, Black women represent 1.21% of the 4,126 tenure track professors, of which only nine are full professors (Kelly 2002, 22). The large majority of African Americans in the profession are concentrated among the ranks of associate (18 out of 1,230) and assistant professors (20 out of 1,038). The limited number Black women in the profession can result in a condition in which potential mentors are unavailable to junior scholars, or there are few opportunities to establish relationships. My purpose is not to focus on the problems of Black women in academia, instead it is to bring attention to a major issue, mentoring, which can enhance or limit the success of this group in the discipline. In this article, I interview five Black women at various stages in their careers. The interviewees include an undergraduate student, a graduate student (ABD), an assistant professor, an associate professor, and a retired professor. The goal of this article is to reveal the special demands of mentoring on this small minority in the discipline. However, much of the information revealed is useful for anyone interested in the mentoring process.

Type
The Profession
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2004 , pp. 875 - 877
Copyright
© 2004 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams H. G. 1998. The Mentorship Briefing Guide: Handbook for Establishing and Implementing a Mentoring Program. Notre Dame, IN: GEM Consortium.Google Scholar
Alfred M. V. 1995. Outsiders-Within: The Professional Development History of Black Tenured Female Faculty in the White Research Academy. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Benjamin L., ed. 1997. Black Women in the Academy: Promises and Perils. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.Google Scholar
Blackwell J. E. 1988. “Faculty Issues: Impact on Minorities.” The Review of Higher Education 11 (4): 417– 434.Google Scholar
Colwell S. 1998. “Mentoring, Socialization and the Mentor/Protégé Relationship.” Teaching in Higher Education 3 (3): 313– 325.Google Scholar
Crenshaw K. 2000. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” In The Black Feminist Reader, eds. Joy James and T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 208– 238.Google Scholar
Gregory S. 1995. Black Women in the Academy: The Secrets to Success and Achievement. New York: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Hooks b. 1989. Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. Boston: South End Press.Google Scholar
Johnsrud L. K. 1993. “Women and Minority Faculty Experiences: Defining and Responding to Diverse Realities.” In Building a Diverse Faculty, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, eds. J. Gainen and R. Boice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 3– 16.Google Scholar
Kelly M. J. 2002. APSA Survey of Political Science Departments: Report August 2002. Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association.Google Scholar
Mabokela R. O., and A. L. Green. 2001. Sisters of the Academy. Sterling, VA: Stylus.Google Scholar
Mims G. L., ed. 1981. The Minority Administrator in Higher Education. Cambridge: Schenkman Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Rowley J. B. 1999. “The Good Mentor.” Educational Leadership 56 (8): 20– 22.Google Scholar
Smith D., L. E. Wolf, and B. E. Busenberg. 1996. “Achieving Faculty Diversity: Debunking the Myths.”Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 348 785.Google Scholar
Tack M. W., and C. L. Patitu. 1992. “Faculty Job Satisfaction: Women and Minorities in Peril.” ERIC Digest, 4, 92– 96.Google Scholar