Diversity in Mentoring

Diversity means different things in different contexts. You may think about the differences in mentoring pairs themselves, age, gender, culture or background; the various purposes and settings in which mentoring takes place; or the many countries around the world where mentoring is employed. You could consider the numerous mentoring models, styles of mentoring or types of mentoring program. You might even wonder how mentoring is facilitated amongst people whose language has no word for mentoring. No matter what the context, diversity brings challenges and opportunities.

The International Mentoring Association's 23rd annual conference exemplified the value of diversity. Bringing together people from education, government, industry, and the military, the conference offered a richness of experience to be sampled and shared.

Opening the conference, a panel drew parallels between diversity, and ecosystems. Biodiversity and interdependence are the essence of life. IMA President, Joseph Pacarelli observed: "Without diversity entities will die. Growth comes from differences; atrophy comes from homogeneity." Veteran board-member, mentoring specialist and former science teacher, Barry Sweeney, continued: "Everything is interrelated, the more diverse an organism is the stronger it is and the less diversity, the more susceptible to problems and the weaker it becomes."

In terms of mentoring, Sweeney recommends we look at two things:

How are we similar and how does that unite us? And,

How do our differences give us opportunities to learn from one-another?

He emphasised that we can learn to honour our differences but this requires some risk-taking and it's necessary to create an environment of support. "That's what we create in IMA. A safe, exciting, compelling environment for the kinds of professional conversations where we learn from each other, despite our differences and discover our common bond" Sweeney concluded.

What it takes to develop human beings, support them and help them grow is a common bond, that's how mentoring works.

References

Diversity In Mentoring, International Mentoring Association Conference, Opening Session, 18 March 2010, IMA Board Members, facilitated by Carmen Carter Panel: Karen Posa, Barry Sweeney, Linda Coy, Brenda McIntosh, Gary Kilberg, Nancy Phenis-Bourke, Joeseph Pascarelli