Current Issues in United States History Essay

The article, Mentoring Experiences of Women in Graduate Education: Factors that Matter, focuses on women’s relational approaches which are affected by their gender socialization. The said article studies the various subjective experiences a woman encounters when teaching, counseling and mentoring. It also explores the different aspects that contribute to these experiences exclusive to women in graduate school, the costs and benefits of these relationships for women, and the women’s role models in the familial and professional areas. The article takes on a feminist approach as it differentiates the traditional male to male mentoring relationships from that of the women’s. It asserts that in the male to male relationships, there is an acceptance of patriarchal and hierarchal organization. On the contrary, the women employ a more relational approach, which gives value to the emotional factor involved in the female relationships. But presently, the prevailing standard employed by mentoring environments is that of a traditional patriarchal environment. It can therefore be said that women in mentoring fields are currently in struggle with the prevailing norms. The article undertook a study which aimed to investigate factors that affect women’s mentoring gender socialization. The study yielded seven key topics which suggest that female undergraduate students and their faculty members share same views about their respective mentoring experiences as well as views in the mentoring field. They all commonly voiced their desire for an empowering relationship. This, according to the surveyed collegiate students and teachers, is illustrated by the kind assistance, â€Å"CURRENT ISSUES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY† PAGE #2 inspiration, faith, pride, cooperative hand, and personal growth they gain from these student-teacher relationships. Also, the study explores the sense of obligation that both sides feel for each other, the overall mentor’s investment in the student-teacher relationship (personal/emotional, professional development, time/availability, and financial investment), the factors that affect the growth of their relationship towards each other, and their capacity to balance of their own personal and professional life, experiences in the male mentoring domain, and peer mentoring. The study’s results depict the multi-dimensionality of the women mentors’ needs in order to be successful in their personal and professional mentoring careers. The study also showed that these needs did not alter when compared with the past researches on the same subject. Also, this study suggests that women, in general, have corresponding views (and at the same time) distinct desires to their mentoring relationships in contrast to the more traditional, patriarchal setting typified by the male to male mentoring conditions. Generally speaking, the study only focused on the mentoring experiences’ good points. Unfortunately, it did not include the hardships that women encounter with regards to their being women. It did not tackle the prejudice that women are subjected to in the patriarchal education system. If only the study explored that particular downside, the study would be so much useful and practical. But all in all, the study would indeed be important for reflection on our current educational system with regards to the women in a male dominated field. REFERENCE Rayle A. D. , Bordes V. , Zapata A. , Arrendondo P. , Rutter M. , Howard C. (2006, May). Mentoring Experiences of Women in Graduate Education: Factors that Matter. Current Issues in Education [On-line], 9(6). http://cie. ed. asu. edu/volume9/number6/