The Ethics,Values,and Embodied Practices of Feminist Mentoring in Graduate school: An Intergenerational Framework

Abstract

Drawing on in-depth interviews with four first-generation women academics representing four generations of feminist scholars on their experiences of feminist mentoring in graduate school, I present a conceptual framework of core feminist ethics and values – the ethic of care, commitment to collectives and collaboration, practising reciprocity and hospitality, and acknowledging emotions – that distinguish feminist mentoring from traditional supervision, and highlights the transformative role feminist mentoring plays in addressing intersectional inequalities of doctoral students from the Global North and South. The four models of feminist mentoring that emerge – friendship, no-nonsense nurturing, academic mother and caring professional – illustrate feminist mentoring as an embodied practice that challenges the neoliberal work ethic of productivity and professionalism. The focus on intergenerational mentoring stories from the 1970s to the 2010s opens a window into the past illuminating why women from socially marginalised groups credit feminist mentoring for their success in the academy.