Cross-Cultural and Cross-Racial Mentoring: Strategies for Mentors, Protégés and Mentoring Organizations
This 54-page booklet offers insight and practical advice to those participating in mentoring. It presents generic information on mentoring and targeted research on cross-racial and cross-cultural mentoring. Mentoring, it says, is a delicate “dance between two individuals who come together under the glare of the mentoring program and/or their individual need to engage with each other for mutually beneficial reasons”. In cross-cultural or cross-racial relationships some see race and culture as unwelcome ‘cut-ins’, disrupting efforts to be ‘race-blind’. Others, however, view these ‘cut-ins’ as an inevitable dimension that cannot be ignored. What makes the difference in whether race and culture are welcomed or shunned as part of the context within which the mentoring relationship is taking place? What shapes the lenses mentoring organizations or mentoring partners use in deciding whether race and culture should be acknowledged or ignored? The booklet explores this question from the perspective of the mentor, the protégé and the organization.
Section 1 looks at the Challenge of cross-cultural/racial mentoring, examining issues such as intersectionality of gender and culture, the ‘invisible knapsack’ of racial and cultural privilege and mentoring functions through the lens of race and culture.
Section 2 looks at the Context of cross-cultural/racial mentoring from the perspective of 5 dynamics: Imbalance of Power and Privilege; Racism in Society; Cultural Lenses and their Effect; The View of Culture as Monolithic; The Communication Filter Zone™.
Section 3 offers Strategies and Tools to enrich cross-cultural/racial mentoring relationships. The tools are based on building cultural competence; becoming culturally intelligent and re-defining the norm™.
What our readers say…
“I found the booklet to be straightforward, honest and fair—not critical—informative and engaging. The general tone of optimism would definitely lead me to invite DiversityTrainersPlus in for a workshop.”
Wendy Bourgnon, Therapist and Mentor
“I found it thought-provoking”.
Teresa McGill, President, Gandy Associates
“Great book! The prose is easy to read and informative but not stuffy.”
Jennifer Mulholland, President, Rockwood Furniture
“The book offers a great read and positions itself as a good eye-opener to organizations.”
Tilda Mmegwa, President and CEO, Royal TDI Global Inc.
Excerpts from Section 3
Imbalance of Power and Privilege
Sample quote:
“For the protégé a history of domination and oppression at the hands of the mentor’s racial group can trigger subtle resistance to mentor behavior which is viewed as expressions of patriarchy. The mentor faces the need on the other hand, to constantly ensure that her world view is not tainted by attitudes and ideas rooted in the legacy of historical power.”
Racism in Society
Sample quote:
“In liberal societies perhaps the most common form of individual racism is aversive racism, defined…as “consciously knowing, and professing that all people are equal, yet subconsciously treating and judging some groups (races, genders, ethnicities) differently.”… Aversive racism would therefore not allow a White person to evaluate people of color more negatively than they do Whites; but it would allow them to evaluate people of color less favorably than they do Whites. This subtle but critical shift could mean that a mentor in a cross-cultural/cross-racial relationship might open up the outer perimeter of her social networks to her protégée of color, but be more hesitant to open up the inner circle because of uncertainty of how an individual of the protégée’s background would ‘fit’.”
Cultural Lenses and their Effect
Sample quote:
“The nature of cross-cultural and cross-racial relationships varies with country, society and organization, as will the factors that shape cultural lenses. It is highly likely, however, that in any cross-cultural/cross-racial mentoring relationship or program, the protégé of color or who is racially diverse from the dominant group in society might be having some kind of ‘inner dialogue’ not visible to the eye and not shared with those outside of her racial, social or cultural group.”
The View of Culture as Monolithic
Sample quote:
“When culture is seen as a simple either/or the individual born outside the country where she is being mentored feels she has to make a choice between two pivotal aspects of her life: the elements that nurtured her and her professional expertise and the elements that are now going to shape her and keep her career moving forward.”
The Communication Filter Zone™
Sample quote:
“When protégés feel they are receiving good career-type support but less psychosocial support, they seek out friendship, acceptance and support from other mentor figures of their own race. While this may be an option in situations where there are enough senior individuals to play the role of support mentor, for many other situations it is not an option. It is not even necessarily the best option in the long run. Rather, it points to a certain weakness. It says in essence: “We are in a relationship that presupposes our ability to communicate, empathize and provide support, but our racial and cultural distinctions are still standing in the way.”