Tapping the wisdom tradition: Essential elements to mentoring students of color.

Abstract

The relevance of race, ethnicity, and culture in the mentor–mentee relationship is the essence of thisarticle. The authors argue that diversity education for those mentoring students of color merits anadditional level of required expertise in the following key areas: culture and academia, shared/assumedexistential posture, racial discrimination, race and ethnic self-awareness, and relationship and process.With support from APA publications, the authors highlight specific academic and professional concernsfor students of color, to work toward effective mentoring of culturally diverse students. For prospectivementors of students of color, the authors make recommendations related to engagement, instruction, andintegration of personal and professional identity. Further, the authors make recommendations for themanagement of experiences with discrimination and the recognition of racial identity and racial aware-ness in the mentor–mentee relationship.Keywords: mentoring, students of color, graduate education, diversity education, racial and ethnicawareness