The Importance of Peer Mentoring, Identity Work and Holding Environments: A Study of African American Leadership Development.

Audrey J Murrell,David M Porter,Stacy Blake-Beard

doi:10.3390/ijerph18094920

Abstract

Mentoring is well-known for its positive impact on diversity and inclusion across a wide variety of organizational contexts. Despite these demonstrated advantages, efforts to develop diverse leaders either through access to informal mentoring relationships or via formal mentoring programs are often complex, expensive, and frequently produce mixed results. We examine the unique impact of peer mentoring to support and develop African American leaders using a formalized program approach. Our findings show that peer mentoring is effective in providing a safe environment for the necessary work of identity to take place among African American leaders. This identity work takes the form of holding behaviors such as enabling perspectives, empathic acknowledgement and containment that are critical for the development, support and validation of diverse leaders. Our findings clearly show the benefit of external identity peer mentors for providing support and validation for African American leaders that can be absent within traditional hierarchical mentoring. By examining the outcomes of an actual leadership development program over time, we provide recommendations on how to enhance diverse leadership development by recognizing and cultivating the positive impact of identity-based peer mentoring.

Highlights

Mentoring is well-known for its positive impact on diversity and inclusion across a wide variety of organizational contexts [1]
By analyzing qualitative outcome data collected across this year-long formal program, we explore the impact of peer mentoring as a buffer for the necessary work of racial identity and the cultivation of holding environments that we argue are essential for developing diverse leaders
What evidence is there that peer mentoring provided within a formal program can provide support in the form of holding environments for African American leaders? Second, what is the unique impact of external peer mentors who share racial identity group membership in providing holding environments for developing African American leaders? Third, what recommendations can we provide on how organizations can enhance diverse leadership development efforts by recognizing and cultivating the positive impact of identity-based peer mentoring?

Summary

Introduction

Mentoring is well-known for its positive impact on diversity and inclusion across a wide variety of organizational contexts [1]. It is clear within this extensive body of work that mentoring offers both psychosocial and instrumental benefits for individuals and organizations [2]. The positive impact of mentoring for leadership development has been well-documented [3]. Despite these demonstrated advantages, efforts to develop diverse leaders either through access to informal mentoring relationships or via formal mentoring programs are often complex, expensive, and frequently produce mixed outcomes or results [4]. Developing diverse leaders means paying close attention to providing a psychologically safe work environment, one in which diverse individuals feel safe to voice ideas, seek feedback, provide honest feedback and task risks as they develop their leadership competence and confidence [5]

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