#BlackintheIvory: culturally responsive mentoring with black women doctoral students and a black male mentor

Abstract

This article examines a culturally responsive mentoring approach, and how it is enacted and experienced by two Black women doctoral students in relation to their Black male faculty mentor. Autoethnography is used to examine these mentoring dyads. By examining, defining, and applying culturally responsive mentoring, authors reflect on meaning of being part of a mentoring relationship that boldly addresses race and racism in academe. The hope is that by presenting the power of these dyads we open a conversation that is a fruitful start to needed change in mentoring, which ultimately places significant responsibility for supporting Black scholars at the feet of institutions. Analysis of multiple identities brought to light four themes of mentorship: (1) critical consciousness/cultural competence/ cultural compatibility in mentoring relationships, (2) mentorship as a turning point, (3) multilayered mentoring as pivotal to growth, and (4) clarifying visions for the future through mentorship.