A Reconceptualization of Mentoring in Counselor Education: Using a Relational Model to Promote Mutuality and Embrace Differences
✍ Scribed by WALKER, JENNIFER A.
- Book ID
- 102288853
- Publisher
- American Counseling Association
- Year
- 2006
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 78 KB
- Volume
- 45
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1931-0293
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The author examines cross-gender and cross-cultural mentoring in counselor education from a relational perspective. It is suggested that focusing on commonalities among students who are of different gender or culture will help establish a sense of mutuality in the mentoring process. Scenarios are provided to illustrate a relational model of mentoring with female counselor education students and students of color.
Although effective mentoring has been examined for many years in business settings, only recently has the counseling field looked at mentoring processes. Because there is significant diversity among students entering the counseling field, the provision of responsive cross-gender and cross-cultural mentoring can have a significant impact on the future success of counselor education students. Some have suggested that male protégés desire instrumental-or career-focused mentoring, whereas female protégés desire relational mentoring (Cullen & Luna, 1993;Ragins, 1989;Schwiebert, 2000). However, Liang, Tracy, Taylor, and Williams (2002) noted that in a formal mentoring program, gender matches were less important than the overall quality of the mentoring relationship. It is interesting that most research demonstrates that men and women deliver the same kind of mentoring (Frierson, Hargrove, & Lewis, 1994;O'Neill, Horton, & Crosby, 1998).
Researchers have noted that both positive and negative aspects are involved in cross-gender relationships. Johnson and Huwe (2003) noted that even when a sexual attraction is not present in a cross-gender mentoring relationship, the mentor and protégé may fear the perception of sexual attraction. In addition, Noe (1988) stated that "often, the relationship between the mentor and the protégé is interpreted as sexual in nature, leading to jealousy, resentment, and malicious gossip" (p. 70). Findings from cross-gender mentoring relationships in business settings, however, suggest that if a female protégé has a male mentor, her mobility and even salary level may be influenced posi-