Gender, Race, and Mentorship: A Perspective from California Archaeology

Abstract

This article explores the role of mentorship in structuring students’ decisions to pursue career paths in archaeology, both within and outside academia. Based on recent survey data administered to the Society for California Archaeology membership, I consider the demographic makeup of mentors and mentees, a diachronic analysis of mentor and mentee relationships, quantitative and qualitative responses to individual experiences with mentors, and the ways in which gender and race/ethnicity play out in the context of these relationships over time. Results indicate that greater disparities exist in mentoring relationships involving women and racial/ethnic minorities—disparities that have persisted since the founding of North American archaeology and continue to the present day. The cause for these disjunctions may originate from a lack of diversity in potential mentors within academia.