"Don't Leave Us Behind": The Importance of Mentoring for Underrepresented Minority Faculty

This article examines the mentoring experiences of 58 underrepresented minority (URM) faculty at 22 research-extensive institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and focus group data, participants discussed the importance of mentoring across the life course, the ideal attributes of mentoring relat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican educational research journal Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 40 - 72
Main Authors Zambrana, Ruth Enid, Ray, Rashawn, Espino, Michelle M., Castro, Corinne, Cohen, Beth Douthirt, Eliason, Jennifer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.02.2015
American Educational Research Association
Subjects
African American Teachers
Barriers
Coding
College Faculty
Disproportionate Representation
Experiential Learning
Focus Groups
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Interpersonal Relationship
Interviews
Mentoring programs
Mentors
Mexican Americans
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority Group Teachers
Political Issues
Puerto Ricans
Qualitative Research
Racial Composition
Semi Structured Interviews
Social and Institutional Analysis
Social Capital
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Persistence
Teacher Researchers
Teaching Conditions
Whites
higher education
diversity
mentoring
underrepresented minorities
faculty careers
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Summary:This article examines the mentoring experiences of 58 underrepresented minority (URM) faculty at 22 research-extensive institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and focus group data, participants discussed the importance of mentoring across the life course, the ideal attributes of mentoring relationships, the challenges to effective mentoring, and the role of political guidance. These data elicited three main themes regarding mentoring: (a) Life course practices geared toward accumulating social capital are critical, (b) major barriers are linked to the undervaluing of faculty research areas and community-engaged scholarly commitments, and (c) connections with mentors who understand the struggles specific to URMs at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) can assist with retention and success. This study provides a roadmap for shifting how we engage with URM faculty and strategies and knowledge to assess the effectiveness of mentoring to increase the retention of URM faculty.
ISSN:0002-8312
1935-1011
DOI:10.3102/0002831214563063