Mentoring Away the Glass Ceiling in Academia

Brenda L. H. Marina is associate professor at Georgia Southern University, teaching graduate courses in educational leadership and higher education administration.

Mentoring Away the Glass Ceiling in Academia: A Cultured Critique is different in that it calls attention to the role mentoring has played on the "glass ceiling" phenomenon in higher education. Narratives by and about the experiences of women of diverse backgrounds in the United States and beyond the borders of this nation shed needed light on the ways in which mentoring influences identity formation and internal coping mechanisms in environments often characterized by marginalization. Through these narratives, these women serve as "quasi mentors" and create spaces for other women to survive and thrive within the educational arena.This text honors and extends previous work on the experiences of women academics from diverse backgrounds. Through this book, there is a call for new ways of understanding the vital role that narratives play in speaking truth to the power of mentoring. The insights present an exposé of the extent to which politics, policies, and equity agendas for mentoring have supported or failed women.

Introduction: This is Where I Will Begin...Brenda L. H. MarinaSection I: On the Road to AcademeChapter 1: PhorwarD Progress: Moving Ahead through Mentorship in the AcademyJennifer Johnson and Jeanette SniderChapter 2: I am My Sister's Keeper: A Dual Mentoring Perspective of Women of Color in STEMVirginia Tickles and Krystal FoxxChapter 3: Navigating the Turbulent Boundaries of a Ph.D. Program: A Supportive Peer-mentoring RelationshipJean Ostrom-Blonigen and Cindy Larson-CasseltonSection II: Tapping on the Glass Ceiling in AcademeChapter 4: Burdens of the Gifted: Moving Inside the MarginsAllison E. McWilliamsChapter 5: Current Career Issues and Mentoring (the Lack of Mentoring)Dian McCallumChapter 6: The Courage to Give, the Courage to Receive: Mentor-Protégé Relations with Women of ColorLillie BenChapter 7: The Role of a Mentor in Supporting Early Career Academics: The Relationship is More Important than the LabelJulie Haddock-Millar and Chandana SanyalSection III: Steps Towards Successful MentoringChapter 8: Beyond Sisterhood: Using Shared Identities to Build Peer Mentor Networks and Secure Social Capital in the AcademyTamara Bertrand Jones, JeffriAnne Wilder, and La'Tara Osborne-LampkinChapter 9: Reflections on Mentoring Female Faculty in Higher EducationVenessa Brown, Isaac Abeku Blankson, and Ayse Y. EvrenselChapter 10: Mentoring Practices for Female Faculty: The Role of Professional NetworksEmma PreviatoConclusion: Lessons LearnedBrenda L. H. Marina