A Reflexive, Dialogic, and Democratic Exploration of Cross-Cultural Mentoring

• In Event: Mentoring as a Touchstone for Reinvention, Transforming, and Transitioning

Abstract

Purpose
Cultural differences can constrain possibilities for extensive mentoring (Jean-Marie & Brooks, 2011; authors, 2015), as well as provide opportunities for growth (authors, 2015). We add to the scholarship on cross-cultural mentoring (e.g., Clutterbuck, 2007; Fletcher & Ragins, 2007) by exploring cultural differences in a mentoring network. This study addresses the theme of reflexive and democratic engagement by seeking to improve mentoring among women from cultural backgrounds and milieus. Whether mentoring across gender or culture, discomfort can arise from uncertainty about one another’s culture (Shollen et al., 2008). A network scholar (2011) urges us to examine how we work with and against culture to support ourselves and other women in academia: “Our goal should not be that of fitting in but creating spaces for authentic dialogue and action with allies around creating justice within the academy. . . If we do not stand up, who will stand for us?” (p. 109).

Perspectives
We rely on Creamer’s (2003) notion of collaborative consciousness by engaging in open and ongoing dialogue about our ethnically informed cultural backgrounds. Cross-cultural communication (Tannen, 1980) and mentoring inform our analysis with an emphasis on telecommunication using collaborative technologies (Knouse, 2001).

Methods
We (n=8) each wrote a personal narrative introducing our cultural backgrounds as such:
Chicana/Latina/Mexican American
Bi-ethnic, African American/Mexican American
African Caribbean
Afro-Jamaican
African American
White
African
Montenegrin

The cultural reflections were analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998; Braun & Clark, 2005).

Findings
Racial/ethnic identity and socioeconomic status were interconnected in our cultural narratives, and concepts of self (i.e., roles as women in education) were implicated in how we communicated. One participant stated,

I’m learning the language of academia, and the politics of race and culture in the academy… I speak the language and do the work but [wonder], I am true to myself and core values that hail from being raised by my parents in an all-Black neighborhood?

Feelings, emotions, traditions, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and values were invoked and contextualized within professional, social, and familial interactions. Another participant wrote, “I have learnt through my grandmother, mother, uncles and aunts, the value of independence, resilience, survival, collegiality and purpose.”

We share reflections on the identities, voices, and languages we have gained or lost in navigating the culture of academia. The cultural differences evident in our incentives and motivations to mentor, locations where we preferred to mentor/be mentored, and concepts of time influencing when and how long we expect to mentor/be mentored. These cultural differences have implications for the stability of the network and our capacity to mentor cross-culturally.

Scholarly significance
Given the often silenced yet ongoing challenges of cross-cultural mentoring in developing trust (Johnson-Bailey & Cevero, 2008; Shollen et al., 2008) or collegiality across race (Stanley & Lincoln, 2005), this study adds to the scholarship on career and psycho-social support for women in mentoring networks (e.g., Ragins, Townsend, & Mattis, 1998; Stanley & Lincoln, 2005) by providing insights in dialogical transformation across cultural networks.

Authors

• Antonette M. Aragon, Colorado State University

• Talia Randa Esnard, The University of Trinidad and Tobago

• Vonzell Agosto, University of South Florida

• Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, University of South Florida

• Christine Wanjiku Nganga, South Dakota State University

• Ann Unterreiner, Education Consultant/Independent Scholar

• Makini Z. Beck

• Zorka Karanxha, University of South Florida