Reciprocal Mentoring: A Testimonio in Two Voices

• In Event: Women's Way of Leading and Mentoring: Opening Critical Spaces for Future Orientation in Higher Education

Abstract

Objectives

Research examines the advantages of mentoring graduate students, specifically first generation graduate students of color, as they navigate advanced degrees (Ortiz-Walters & Gilson, 2005; Smith, 2007). Much of this research focuses on the mentor/mentee relationships and pedagogical practices that facilitate leadership growth (Flores Carmona & Luschen, 2014; Prieto & Villenas, 2012). This paper documents the educational testimonio (Burciaga & Cruz Navarro, 2015) of Author 1, a first generation Latina doctoral student and her mentor, Author 2, a professor of bilingual/multicultural education at a large urban university in California.

Theoretical Perspectives

Moore and Amey (1988) define mentoring as “a form of professional socialization whereby a more experienced (usually older) individual acts as guide, role model, teacher, and patron of a less experienced (often younger) protégé” (p. 45). This focus on guidance and support (Chandler, 1996) seems incomplete—ignoring the duality of relationships between mentors/mentees, especially those informal relationships that develop organically (Desimone et al., 2014). We believe that mentoring is mutually beneficial (Beyene, Anglin, Sanchez, & Ballou, 2002; Cole, 2015) since both of us are instrumental in developing, maintaining, and supporting the relationship and both of us gain from our engagement as mentor and mentee and at times those roles apply to each of us or both of us.

Methods and Points of View: A Testimonio in Two Voices

Borrowing from the reciprocal mentoring model in teacher education (Paris, 2013), we discuss our mentoring journey through a testimonio (Beverley, 1989) in two voices as author 1 entered and completed her doctoral program and moved into leadership and practitioner-scholar roles within and outside the context of the program. We use testimonio as a methodological tool (Delgado Bernal, Burciaga, & Flores Carmona, 2012) to narrate our shared experiences. We discuss our relative roles, how we learned from each other, and the practices that supported Author 1’s success. We use the notion of shared authority as it embodies “the cultivation of trust, the development of collaborative relationships, and shared decision-making” (High, 2009, p. 13) that became part of our shared story. Our testimonio describes how we both approached this relationship and how it evolved over the course of Author 1’s doctoral journey and beyond.

Results and Significance

Our testimonio highlights the fluid nature of reciprocal mentoring relationships. Mentoring relationships must be based on trust (Cole, 2015), built over time and through interactions. This can be challenging when mentor and mentee come from different backgrounds and it is incumbent on both parties to consider perspectives that are different from their own. Mentees/mentors must feel free to challenge each other (Beyene et al., 2002) but the mentor must create the space where this can take place, given the power dynamic in the mentor/mentee relationship. Further, when mentoring graduate students of color, mentors must make efforts to help mentees access and use the social capital inherent in navigating academia (Smith, 2007). And finally, reciprocal mentoring partners must be willing to learn from each other and challenge the power dynamic that exists between faculty and student.

Authors

• Nadia Aguilar, California State University - Los Angeles

• Sharon H. Ulanoff, California State University - Los Angeles