Productive Tensions in a Cross-Cultural Peer Mentoring Women’s Network: A Social Capital Perspective

Abstract

A growing body of researchers documents the unique barriers women face in their academic career progression and the significance of mentoring networks for advancement of their academic trajectories as faculty. However, few researchers explore the embedded tensions and conflicts in the social processes and relations of mentoring networks, and the implications this has for social capital. Using this as our starting point, our narrative reflections suggest that while productive orientations and shared experiences as women faculty of color promote supportive professional roles; the structural, relational, and cultural dynamics subtly frame the basis of our tensions. In moving beyond these, we advance the need for structured and constructive engagement of our differences in building the social capital of peer mentoring networks. While this is not an easy task, we hold that it requires fluid and ongoing negotiations of these relationships if collective goals are to be realized.

The F Word: The Role of Women’s Friendships in Navigating the Gendered Workplace of Academia

“…Membership in a counterspace has a twofold impact: first, it allows individuals to cope with and regulate the stress of being in an unsupportive social environment, and then, once no longer in a threat state, allows individuals to use that relational space as one from which to explore and grow (La Guardia & Patrick, 2008). These outcomes were evident in the literature on women's close peer relationships in academia with members sharing that they found in each other a place to cope with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt (Bottoms et al, 2013, Driscoll et al, 2009Esnard et al, 2015;Guramatunhu-Mudiwa & Angel, 2017;Macoun & Miller, 2014;Martinez et al, 2015;Packer-Williams & Evan, 2011;Rees & Shaw, 2014). For example, a Latina woman in a peer mentoring group wrote that "feelings of inadequacy permeate our psyches on a regular basis" with one member sharing that "my self-confidence and abilities are constantly assaulted" (Ek et al, 2010, p. 544).…”

Breaching the walls of academe: the case of five Afro-Caribbean immigrant women within United States institutions of higher education

“…Professional development and mentoring however do not typically address the intersectionality of Black women's experiences (Bertrand Jones & Osborne-Lampkin, 2013). This is particularly the case where there are sources of conflict and exclusive practices that hinge on the relative significance of race, gender, and ethnicity for instance within the broader constructions and functions of professional academic networks (Fries-Britt & Kelly, 2012;Esnard, Cobb-Roberts, Agosto, Karanxha, Beck, Unterriener, & Wu, 2015). Our interviews also spoke to the shortcomings of these professional spaces and the need for tapping into their strengths for their survival.…”

ADVANCING Women of Color in STEM through Meaningful Mentoring: Key Observations from the Jackson State University ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Project

“…As increasing numbers of underrepresented minority groups enter into higher education, the call for institutions to provide more diverse, equitable, and inclusive work and learning environments have prompted much investigation into the role of mentoring in faculty development and career advancement (Guarino and Berden, 2017;Esnard, Cobb-Roberts, Agosto, Karanxha, Beck, Wu, and Unterreiner, 2015;Irby, 2014;Mack, Watson, and Camacho, 2013;Haring-Hidore, 1987). Yet, despite the abundance of literature on mentoring, many questions remain unanswered regarding what works in the area of mentoring, faculty development, and career advancement for women of color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields as well as the Social and Behavioral Sciences.…”