Using critical race theory to reframe mentor training: theoretical considerations regarding the ecological systems of mentorship

This article offers a theoretical and critical analysis of race-dysconscious mentorship involving students of color and white faculty. Inspired byecological systems theory,critical race theory, and the NIH-funded program,Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity: Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in Education and Research, our analysis considers the ecosystems that promote student pushout and hinder diversification of the scientific workforce, which call for critical alternatives to traditional research mentorship. We first examine the historical, social-political, institutional, interpersonal, and intrapsychic ecosystems of traditional mentor-protege relationships. Two areas are reviewed: (a) diversity as it operates in universities and research laboratories and (b) the discursive properties of a dysconscious dialog that rationalizes modern racism. Next, we connect the five ecosystems of mentorship by integrating literature on critical history, white consciousness, the interpersonal context of mentoring, and mentor-protege phenomenology. Our analysis demonstrates how the racialized lives of members involved in a mentoring relationship are situated within racist macro-level ecological systems wherein intrapsychic and interpersonal actions and discourses unfold. The development of race-consciousness and anti-racist faculty mentor training programs is also discussed.

Automated summary

This article provides a theoretical and critical analysis of race-dysconscious mentorship involving students of color and white faculty, drawing on concepts such as ecological systems theory and critical race theory. It highlights the issues with traditional mentorship systems and calls for critical alternatives to address the pushout of students of color and lack of diversity in the scientific workforce. The analysis emphasizes the importance of developing race-consciousness and anti-racist faculty mentor training programs.