Print

Introduction xvii teachers, colleagues, and coworkers, all forming a chain of mentors who helped her through rough spots to achieve important goals. Diversity in mentorship is enriching, educative, and inspiring. Her recipe for good men- toring is having strong beliefs in the skills, talents, and potential of the men- tee a huge portion of enthusiasm and encouragement and gentle stirring for the sensitive caring of the needs and goals of the mentee. Every woman, in all walks of life, needs a mentor to smooth the way. She discusses the im- portance of women mentors, diverse mentors, critical thinking versus one size fi ts all, and guidelines for women mentors and mentees. Helen PraĴ, in “Mentoring: Perspectives from a Nontraditional Mentor,” describes a mentor who will work with anyone who is willing to meet the constraints of her schedule and other criteria to gain the benefit of her skills and talents. She recommends an inclusionary net in mentoring as an ex- ample for diversity. Pointing out the dearth of women mentors and women of color mentors, she counsels that mentors who work with women and people of color must be commiĴed to developing a mentoring style that promotes confidence and trust, acknowledging the traumatic results that discrimination and bias have had on women and people of color. Mentors of color usually are more understanding of the personal, cultural, and eth- nic needs of mentees of color. She discusses the crucial role that family and peers have in shaping mentoring style. In “Beyond Mentoring: Opening Doors and Systems,” Shari Miles- Cohen, Gwendolyn Puryer Keita, Gabriel Twose, and Susan J. Houston relate the commitment of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Com- miĴee on Women in Psychology (CWP) to work to ensure equal oppor- tunity for women, including making changes in existing structures and policies to promote positive opportunities for women’s achievements and advancements. The fi ve categories of mentoring at structural and individ- ual levels are discussed: macro-mentoring initiatives (creating overarching initiatives transcending extant systems, targeting structural barriers, ad- dressing sexist recruitment and retention by employers, ruling out sexist language in publications, and ensuring diverse representation at the gov- ernance level of organizations) mentoring by community activities (with a nontraditional, nondyadic model for CWP serving as a sponsor, being in- volved in nominations processes, fellow status considerations, and leader- ship awards) resources of CWP and the APA Women’s Program Office (providing women the needed authoritative information, moral support, and resources to self-mentor for individual empowerment) virtual men- toring activities (development of alternate delivery methods, such as Web- based resources) and the Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology (preparation, support, and empowerment of women psychologists to pro- mote positive changes in organizational and institutional structures, in numbers of women, effectiveness of women, and increases in diversity of women in psychology as leaders.