Unexpected Accomplices: Effective Mentoring between a Black and White Woman Despite Historical Issues of Privilege, Power, and Positionality

Abstract

In this reflection piece, we, a Black woman faculty and a white woman postdoc in a researchintensive College of Engineering, discuss our relationship in the context of cross-racial mentoring where our positionalities (distinguished professor and postdoc) do not follow racial power historically (Black and white, respectively) in the United States. We describe how our professional relationship began during inflection points for both the Black professor and white postdoc and during the turbulent national and global events occurring in the final months of 2020. Despite this, our mentorship quickly developed into one led by humanity and based on an understanding of intersectional feminism. We identify core components of our relationship in efforts to lay out a conceptual framework that can be useful by other such mentorships and to situate our experience in the broader literature. We describe how we use the elements of Dialogue, Sisterhood, and Agency / Accountability to navigate complex issues of power. We hope that this piece will invite discussion on how white women trainees can develop cultural competencies in their relationships with Black and other Women of Color mentors. Broadly, we aim to facilitate discussion in the Engineering Education community about how positionality and power can be acknowledged to grow cultural competencies of the historically privileged while simultaneously preventing inequities and injustices of leaders from historically harmed and excluded groups.