Leadership Development Through Mentoring in Higher Education: A Collaborative Autoethnography of Leaders of Color

• In Event: Mentoring and Context

Abstract

This collaborative autoethnography explored how fourteen academic and administrative leaders of color working in faith-based higher education have experienced personal and professional mentoring and how mentoring experiences have influenced their leadership development. All participants identified a wide array of developmental relationships that had contributed to their leadership development. Whereas female participants relied on these relationships primarily for psychosocial support, male participants had more actively sought out mentoring relationships to develop career skills and expand their professional network. We argue that personal and institutional factors contributed to the participants’ limited access to professional mentoring within their higher education contexts. This inquiry has provided evidence of the importance of supportive, developmental professional relationships in the lives of emerging leaders in higher education.

Authors

• Karen A. Longman, Azusa Pacific University

• Heewon Chang, Eastern University

• Linda H. Chiang, Azusa Pacific University

• Nilsa J. Thorsos

• Marla Franco, The University of Arizona