Women of color and mentorship in graduate training.

What is it about?

In recent years graduate programs have significantly increased enrollment rates for women of color (WOC). A prominent factor in the successful matriculation of graduate students and in them thriving as early career professionals is linked to supportive mentorship. Mentorship is commonly cited as fulfilling a host of functions that maximizes the graduate trainee’s potential and experience of graduate school and beyond (Eby, Allen, Evans, Ng, & Dubois, 2008; Kammeyer-Mueller & Judge, 2008). As more WOC enroll in graduate programs, there is an ongoing need for mentorship that is both culturally sensitive and supports their professional growth. As Mangione, Borden, Nadkarni, Evarts, and Hyde (2018) note, 97% of all the graduate students and early career participants in their study experienced mentorship as positively impacting their training. Mentorship is an invaluable component of graduate training, yet some students have difficulty locating one within their academic setting. As a result, some graduate trainees look to their clinical supervisors to provide mentorship. Though it is true that supervision and mentorship are distinct, there are opportunities for overlap as described by Johnson (2007), in the form of “transformational supervision.” Transformational supervision offers traditional clinical supervision while also providing mentorship by modeling professionalism and offering guidance in the early stages of a trainee’s professional development. This paper explores the benefits and barriers of mentorship for WOC and provides two trainees’ experiences of mentorship from clinical supervisors. The trainees’ narratives will speak to the lessons learned and conclude with strategies to enhance mentorship experiences for WOC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

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Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash

Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Impact Statement Public Significance Statement—As the rate of women of color (WOC) in graduate programs steadily increase, it is important to examine the factors that contribute to their success. Mentorship for WOC has been linked to aid their success in graduate training programs. This paper highlights the barriers that WOC face in graduate school, as well as factors that contribute to their success, and underline the importance of healthy mentorship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)