Mentoring Away the Glass Ceiling in Academia

Book excerpt: 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.