Implicit Bias and Microaggressions Certification through MSU
Training through Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) (Free if you sign up)
American Psychological Association "Centering on Mentoring" PowerPoint
Coursera: Introduction to Mentorship
Skillshare: Learn the Art of Teaching Skills, Coaching, and Mentoring to Education & Train Others
Linkedin Learning: Coaching and Mentoring Online Training Courses
MSU's ElevateU Online Training
Udemy Course: Coaching and Mentoring Skills
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Mentorship is crucial for developing a sense of belonging for BIPOC employees, increasing much needed retention efforts in a predominantly white field. Many organizations and libraries in particular, are rooted in white centeredness, which creates barriers to success for BIPOC employees. Policies, rules, and procedures are often built around traditional white values, and BIPOC employees are forced to navigate that bureaucracy on their own. Mentoring is a powerful tool for demystifying these processes, and works to eliminate barriers to successful promotion and tenure, job satisfaction, and can lead to leadership and management roles. In order for these mentorships to be successful, inclusive mentoring practices are essential.
"Inclusive mentorship is a co-constructed and reciprocal relationship between a mentor and mentee who take a strengths-based and identity-informed approach to working together to support their mutual growth, development and success." (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017)
1. A big part of inclusivity is awareness of your own privilege and power, and how that affects BIPOC employees, including your mentee. Inclusive mentors interrogate their privilege, and work to recognize the ways in which systems are built to not only uphold them, but to work against BIPOC employees.
Book recommendation: Me and white supremacy: combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor
2. Recognize the bureaucracy in your organization, and pay attention to policies, procedures, and white cultural norms. Focus on decentering whiteness by working to create new organizational norms and centering the stories and experiences of BIPOC employees.
Article recommendation: "Nice White Meetings": Unpacking Absurd Library Bureaucracy through a Critical Race Theory Lens
3. Increase cultural humility practices and develop a strong skillset in cultural competence. Learn about your own implicit biases and develop a practice to reinforce behaviors that support cultural competency while also minimizing behaviors that undermine it.
Training: Leading with Cultural Competence
Youtube video from NASEM on Culturally Aware Mentorship
Youtube video from the National Research Mentoring Network on Cultural Responsive Mentoring