Developing Trust through Collaborative Research Mentoring Graduate Students

Developing Trust through Collaborative Research Mentoring Graduate Students of Colour Cynthia Gerstl-Pepin and Marybeth Gasman Alissa Ramos

Mentoring What makes a good mentor? What makes a bad mentor? What challenges can arise based on how we mentor? Traditional mentoring relationships- “socialize individuals into a preexisting environment… intentionally or unintentionally reproducing systems of inequality” (p. 116). Rituals of Control- “Domination the unjust exercise of power” (p. 109). Narratives of who mentees are silenced and excluded

Purpose “Explore the possibilities of creating trust in a collaborative narrative research relationships…” (p. 108) Trust- “The belief that others will not deliberately or knowingly do us harm, if they can avoid it, and will look after our interests if this is possible” (p. 109). Conceptualized within a socio-political context

Trust Discussion/Activity “Trust is not a static entity, but operates on a continuum” (p. 109). Trust can be evolving or devolving No Trust

Strategies to Building Trust through Co-Reflection Co-reflection- “a collaborative critical thinking process mediated by, language, broadly construed to include all meaningful signs” (p. 110). Narrative reflection- Used to explore issues of trust. “…it offers a venue for uncovering the often paradoxical and complex ways that race may play out in a mentoring relationship” (p. 110).

Strategies to Building Trust through Co-Reflection Collaborative research model- “The individual acknowledges the power inequities and work against them by sharing power during the research process” (p. 113). Collaborative research- “It can bring together a board social analysis… the self-study of practice, the way language is used, organization and power in a local situation, and [social or political] action” (p. 114).

Strategies to Building Trust through Co-Reflection Collaborative narrative inquiry- “Provides a way to develop trust and interrogate power inequities such as issues of race, power, and status. “It is an confessional tale which allows the research’s experience of doing the study [to] become the focus of the investigation” (p. 114).

How is it done? 1 st- Mentor/mentee develop trust in their relationship 2 nd- Explore the possibility of a collaborative research project (Ex. Journal article) 3 rd- Consider a collaborative narrative research “…works against the academy’s focus on individual achievement and competition and instead seeks to share power and foster co-operation” (p. 116)

Outcomes/Conclusion Mentors learn to be vulnerable and share their own personal narratives of race and share power. Mentors learn to listen more attentively to studentsboth verbal and non-verbal. Mentors learn to negotiate sensitive topics, environment, and relationships. Mentees learn how to trust in the academy