Dialogic Exchanges and the Negotiation of Differences: Female Graduate Students' Experiences of Obstacles Related to Academic Mentoring

Authors

Sharon Hayes, West Virginia UniversityFollow
Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, University of FloridaFollow

Abstract

This study, framed by social constructionism, investigated the dialogic exchanges and co-construction of knowledge among female graduate students, who met to discuss the ways in which the differences between mentors and mentees might be negotiated in order to develop and maintain mentoring relationships that benefit both partners. Ten female graduate students, with qualitative research experience, participated in individual interviews and focus groups. Findings indicated our participants were open to the differences expressed, focusing on commonalities, rather than accentuating or suppressing stated differences. This negotiation of difference enabled our participants to co-construct more complex and legitimate understandings of mentoring. Collectively, our participants expressed a need for mentoring that addressed psychosocial, as well as career functions and mentoring relationships that supported the development of both mentor and mentee as scholars and researchers.

Keywords

Academic Mentoring, Female Doctoral Students, Qualitative Research, Social Constructionism, and Discourse Analysis

Publication Date

5-1-2011

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1083

Recommended APA Citation

Hayes, S., & Koro-Ljungberg, M. (2011). Dialogic Exchanges and the Negotiation of Differences: Female Graduate Students' Experiences of Obstacles Related to Academic Mentoring. The Qualitative Report, 16(3), 682-710. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1083