1st Edition

Mentoring Dilemmas Developmental Relationships Within Multicultural Organizations

Edited By Audrey J. Murrell, Faye J. Crosby, Robin J. Ely Copyright 1999
    284 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    284 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    The world is continually changing. As organizations become more diverse, the need to recognize and develop talent within others becomes more critical and more complex. Herein lies the fundamental dilemma that parties to these important relationships face. Based on a recent gathering in Amherst, the contributors of this volume attempted to help each other better understand the issues that they were facing in their own diversified mentoring relationships as mentors, protégés, or both. This volume is the result of their efforts.

    Organized into three sections, the book focuses on the different types of mentoring perspectives--theoretical, empirical, and experiential. It addresses the following issues:
    *Developmental relationships--the emerging themes and theoretical models that discuss the experiences of various ethnic populations,
    *Empirical evidence--qualitative and quantitative research that examines the impact of diverse mentoring relationships,
    *First-hand accounts--experiences that recount key lessons learned in various situations, including breaking the glass ceiling, among others.

    Contents: S. Wellington, Foreword. Preface. Part I:Theoretical Perspectives. F.J. Crosby, The Developing Literature on Developmental Relationships. S.R. Bowman, M.E. Kite, N.R. Branscombe, S. Williams, Developmental Relationships of Black Americans in the Academy. S. Goto, Asian Americans and Developmental Relationships. R.M. O'Neill, S. Horton, F.J. Crosby, Gender Issues in Developmental Relationships. Part II:Empirical Perspectives. S. Blake, At the Crossroads of Race and Gender: Lessons From the Mentoring Experiences of Professional Black Women. G.M. McGuire, Do Race and Sex Affect Employees' Access to and Help From Mentors? Insights From the Study of a Large Corporation. D.E. Gibson, D.I. Cordova, Women's and Men's Role Models: The Importance of Exemplars. D. Kirby, J.S. Jackson, Mitigating Perceptions of Racism: The Importance of Work Group Composition and Supervisor's Race. D.A. Thomas, Beyond the Simple Demography--Power Hypothesis: How Blacks in Power Influence White-Mentor--Black-Protégé Developmental Relationships. Part III:Experiential Perspectives. E. McCambley, Testing Theory by Practice. S.K. Hoyt, Mentoring With Class: Connections Between Social Class and Developmental Relationships in the Academy. A.J. Murrell, S.S. Tangri, Mentoring at the Margin. Part IV:Conclusions. B.R. Ragins, Where Do We Go From Here, and How Do We Get There? Methodological Issues in Conducting Research on Diversity and Mentoring Relationships.

    Biography

    Murrell, Audrey J.; Crosby, Faye J.; Ely, Robin J.

    "This book offers a rich mix of articles that explore mentoring dilemmas within diverse work contexts: conceptual or theoretical pieces, reviews of the literature, discussions of specific studies, and firsthand accounts....the book does an excellent job of stimulating thought and developing ideas....Each chapter is concise and interesting. The editors did an excellent job of ensuring consistency of format so that several voices could be heard and none would receive more exposure than the others."
    Personnel Psychology

    "Those interested in mentoring and/or developmental relationships in organizations should buy this book, as should those interested in diversity and how developmental experiences vary for dissimilar groups."
    Administrative Science Quarterly

    "All of us need mentors at work as well as at school. This thoughtful and insightful book represents one of the first serious efforts to inquire into the conditions that promote mentoring for everyone."
    Thomas Gerety
    President, Amherst College

    "When senior people in an organization help develop the abilities and talents of junior people, everyone benefits. To foster and manage developmental relationships, organizations that employ and serve diverse populations, must know about the special challenges and the special opportunities that attend diversity. This outstanding volume presents the latest research on mentoring and sponsorship in multicultural organizations and is likely to set for the next decade the course of thinking about the issues among those of us who work in business schools."
    Donald Jacobs
    Dean, J.L. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

    "The business maxim 'grow or die' could be recast as 'mentor or die.' Mentoring your firm's future leadership is a critical success factor for any company with growth plans. This book provides managers with insights on how to make mentoring work in our increasingly diverse organizations."
    Paul Gudonis
    President, GTE Internetworking Services

    "Few doubt the importance of developmental relationships to career advancement. But how do these relationships work within the context of the multicultural organization? Mentoring Dilemmas: Developmental Relationships Within Multicultural Organizations provides a comprehensive treatment of this issue from three perspectives: theoretical, empirical, and experimental....This book may provide a valuable resource for those interested in conducting research related to developmental relationships within a diverse workforce. It also illustrates the need to examine developmental relationships from a broader perspective."
    Nancy G. Boyd
    University of North Texas, Denton