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Keywords: co-mentoring / feminist / mentoring / peer relationships / professional development
Among the many collegial relationships that we form in academia, the mentor-protégé relationship directly contributes to scholars' success (Blake 1999; Caplan 1995; Keith and Moore 1995; Long 1990; Reskin 1979; Smith and Davidson 1992). Research indicates that mentoring influences academics' level of professional activity and productivity (Keith and Moore 1995; Long 1990; Reskin 1979; Smith and Davidson 1992). Mentors also guide novices through the "real rules" of a career (Caplan 1995, 92). Most of our understanding of mentoring, however, comes from research that focuses on a particular kind of relationship, one involving an older, experienced person and a younger, less experienced one (Russell and Adams 1997).
In this essay, we address the limitations of traditional mentoring, in particular, its hierarchical structure and limitations in its availability. Drawing on our experiences, we describe a co-mentoring model, which expands academic mentoring options. We argue that while co-mentoring is valuable for all academics, underrepresented groups, such as white women, people of color, older academics, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people can especially benefit from this model. Because our analyses are based upon personal experiences, this essay provides a conceptual framework available to future areas of research.
Our conception of co-mentoring is rooted in a feminist tradition that fosters an equal balance of power between participants, seeks to integrate emotion into the academic professional experience, and values paid and unpaid work. For instance, co-mentoring emphasizes the importance of cooperative, egalitarian relationships for learning and development (Boxer 1998; Collins 1991; hooks 1994; Maher and Tetreault 1994). Co-mentoring replaces the hierarchical model in traditional mentoring with one that focuses on mutual empowerment and learning (Laslett and Thorne 1997). Each person in a co-mentoring relationship has the opportunity to occupy the role of teacher and learner, with the assumption being that both individuals have something to offer and gain in the relationship (Bona, Rinehart, and Volbrecht 1995).
Another way in which our model of co-mentoring is feminist is that it calls into question the mind/body dualism in academia. The mind/body dualism, rooted in Western culture, sets the mind apart from, and above, the body. One of the many problems with this dualism is its gendered nature; masculinity is constructed...