Questions of Racial Diversity and Mentorship: An Empirical Exploration

Mentoring in Academia: Considerations for Diverse Populations

“…This last demographic trend is important to note because it further demonstrates that the majority of available African American academic faculty mentors may be relatively young in their professional development, not seeking academic advancement, or have been unsuccessful at achieving academic advancement for whatever reasons. Collins, Kamya, & Tourse (1997) found that 79% of the African American students in their study had a mentor. Of those African American students who had a mentor, 80% of their mentors were African American.…”

“…The rationale behind this is that the greater the commonality of the relationship, the greater the ability to foster empathy. The mentor-protégé relationship for African American students has tended to be defined racially (Collins, Kamya, & Tourse, 1997). However, as the enrollment of African Americans on college campuses increases, the ability to achieve same group mentoring has decreased.…”

The fourth and fifth generations of African scholars: A South African case study

“…But as Collins et al (1997) contend, and all things being equal, people tend to be attracted to those who they are similar to rather than those different from themselves. From this premise, it would follow that Africans would normally prefer African mentors and likewise white mentors would prefer mentoring white students for many reasons.…”

Why Social Work, and What does the Future Hold?: The Narratives of Recently Graduated Hispanic and African-American Male BSW and MSW Students

“…There is a growing belief that if the social work profession is to live up to its commitment to promoting equity and diversity in order to better represent the population that receives its services, it must achieve a more balanced gender and racial composition in its licensed workforce, which is currently 81% non-Hispanic white female (Collins, Kamya, & Tourse, 1997;Bowie et al, 2005; Center for Workforce Studies, 2006).…”