Early discussions of insider/outsider status assumed that the researcher was predominately an insider or an outsider and that each status carried with it certain advantages and disadvantages. More recent discussions have unveiled the complexity inherent in either status and have acknowledged that the boundaries between the two positions are not all that clearly delineated. Four case studies -a Black woman interviewing other Black women, Asian graduate students in the US interviewing people from 'back home', an African professor learning from African businesswomen, and a cross-cultural team studying aging in a nonWestern culture -are used as the data base to explore the complexities of researching within and across cultures. Positionality, power, and representation proved to be useful concepts for exploring insider/outsider dynamics.What does it mean to be an insider or an outsider to a particular group under study? Can women understand men's experience? Can Whites study Blacks? Straights study gays? The colonized study the coloniz er? Early discussions in anthropology and sociology of insider/outsider status assumed that the researcher was either an insider or an outsider and that each status carried with it certain advantages and disadvantages. More recent discussions of insider/outsider status have unveiled the complexity inherent in either status and have acknowledged that the boundaries between the two positions are not all that clearly delineated. In the real world of data collection, there is a good bit of slippage and fluidity between these two states. Critical and feminist theory, postmodernism, multiculturalism, participatory and action research are now framing our understanding of insider/ outsider issues. In particular, the reconstruing of insider/outsider status in terms of one's positionality vis-à -vis race, class, gender, culture and other factors, offer us better tools for understanding the dynamics of researching within and across one's culture.

Early discussions of insider/outsider status assumed that the researcher was predominately an insider or an outsider and that each status carried with it certain advantages and disadvantages. More recent discussions have unveiled the complexity inherent in either status and have acknowledged that the boundaries between the two positions are not all that clearly delineated. Four case studies -a Black woman interviewing other Black women, Asian graduate students in the US interviewing people from 'back home', an African professor learning from African businesswomen, and a cross-cultural team studying aging in a non-Western culture -are used as the data base to explore the complexities of researching within and across cultures. Positionality, power, and representation proved to be useful concepts for exploring insider/outsider dynamics.What does it mean to be an insider or an outsider to a particular group under study? Can women understand men's experience? Can Whites study Blacks? Straights study gays? The colonized study the colonizer? Early discussions in anthropology and sociology of insider/outsider status assumed that the researcher was either an insider or an outsider and that each status carried with it certain advantages and disadvantages. More recent discussions of insider/outsider status have unveiled the complexity inherent in either status and have acknowledged that the boundaries between the two positions are not all that clearly delineated. In the real world of data collection, there is a good bit of slippage and fluidity between these two states. Critical and feminist theory, postmodernism, multiculturalism, participatory and action research are now framing our understanding of insider/ outsider issues. In particular, the reconstruing of insider/outsider status in terms of one's positionality vis-à -vis race, class, gender, culture and other factors, offer us better tools for understanding the dynamics of researching within and across one's culture.

Cross-cultural mentoring relationships can be sites of struggle around the issues of race, class and gender. In addition, the mentor/protégé relationship offers micro-cosmic insight into power relations within western society. The authors of this paper, a black woman associate professor and a white male professor, use the example of their mentoring relationship to illustrate six common issues facing academicians involved in these relationships: (1) trust between mentor and protégé;(2) acknowledged and unacknowledged racism; (3) visibility and risks pertinent to minority faculty; (4) power and paternalism; (5) benefits to mentor and protégé; and (6) the double-edged sword of 'otherness' in the academy. Literature is used for review and critique of mentoring in the academy while offering personal examples to illustrate the complexity and success of a 13-year mentoring relationship between a duo who began their association as teacher/student.

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The experiences of Black graduate alumni, 1962-2003, at a major Southern Research University were examined in a comprehensive survey. The areas explored were: relationships with faculty, students, and the institution. The experiences of Black graduate alumni, 1962-2003, at a major Southern Research I University were examined in a comprehensive quantitative study. The areas explored were: relationships with faculty, students, and the institution. This study was conducted in an effort to explore the experiences of Blacks and to provide an accurate and first hand account of the Black graduate student experiences. The research questions guiding this study were: To what extent did Black graduate students experience social support during their studies? What types of social problems did Black graduate students experience during their studies? The data reported in herein only addresses the research question on social experiences. The study revealed that the social experiences of Black graduate students are different from those of White graduate students.