Identity-informed mentoring to support acculturation of female faculty of color in higher education: An Asian American female mentoring relationship case study.

Abstract

Female faculty of color need mentoring opportunities that recognize, validate, and nurture their perspectives and experiences as assets-rather than liabilities-to their work. Among studies of faculty of color, there have not been specific studies focused on intragroup mentoring for Asian American female faculty. This collaborative autoethnographic study seeks to explore and unpack the complexities of intragroup mentoring for Asian American female faculty through the examination of a 6-year faculty mentoring relationship between two Asian American female faculty members in the teacher education department of a large public university. The authors examine how intersections and divergences related to their experiences as Asian American women in academia impacted their relationship, their acculturation processes in academia, and their subsequent successful advancements in rank over the course of their mentoring relationship. We argue that drawing from shared elements of our identities, and an awareness of the ways in which our experiences as Asian American women shaped our journeys in academia, helped to foster an enduring relationship that strengthens our work as faculty members. We also explore how differences in our identities (e.g., United States vs. foreign-born adult immigrant; Vietnamese American vs. Taiwanese American) and positionalities (e.g., first Asian American in the department, entering as nontenure track vs. tenure-track entry in a department with several established Asian American faculty) impacted our journeys, challenged us, and enriched our relationship to illuminate a more nuanced understanding of Asian Americans in academia. Through our experiences, we suggest how identityinformed mentorship can be a powerful tool to support acculturation in the academy, particularly for female faculty of color.

A New Effort to Diversify Faculty: Postdoc-to-Tenure Track Conversion Models

“…A second observation is that all of the programs in this review reiterated the importance of faculty mentors, as signaled by the requirement that postdocs have an "assigned mentor." However, research emphasizes the need for multiple mentors, including those within their department/discipline and from outside of it; and from mentors who share aspects of the identity (e.g., race) and those who do not (Griffin et al, 2020;Hsieh and Nguyen, 2020;Davis et al, 2021). We are also aware of the literature that shows that senior faculty of color tend to do the lion's share of mentoring for early career faculty of color, because they are sought out, assigned, and/or prefer to assume those roles, representing a form of cultural taxation that may increase stress and burnout and lower retention (Zambrana, 2018).…”

Responding to the Call: Building a Training Program to Diversify the Academy in Alzheimer's Disease Research

“…This learning exchange has shown to be effective especially for identity-concordant relationships and can help improve diversity and inclusion-focused initiatives in academic settings (33).…”

“…As opposed to a more traditional model in which the senior faculty member guides the junior faculty member, this peer or mutual mentorship approach offers bi-directional support for Scientists' professional and personal challenges ( 32 ). This learning exchange has shown to be effective especially for identity-concordant relationships and can help improve diversity and inclusion-focused initiatives in academic settings ( 33 ).…”

Coalitional Resistance: Challenging Racialized and Gendered Oppression in Teacher Education

“…Betina, whose research and professional networks eventually extended through and beyond the university, helped Huong’s work gain greater recognition through university and professional award nominations and collaborative presentations. Through coauthorship, we have explored the importance of identity-informed mentorship in our relationship (Hsieh & Nguyen, 2020), and we have developed a relationship that extends beyond our professional work over shared meals, texts, and calls. Our ongoing relationship affirms the importance of our full humanity over our productivity.…”

“…Our ongoing relationship affirms the importance of our full humanity over our productivity. We work collaboratively, recognizing the differences in our experiences, but also the importance of our overlapping identities as AsAm teacher educators (Hsieh & Nguyen, 2020), engaging in practices of strategic (anti)essentialism.…”