by Angelica Weathersby

Created on: April 26, 2008   Last Updated: May 13, 2008

There are several different types of mentoring. In one example, a college student's special qualities or abilities may attract the interest of someone teaching or counseling in the college. The mentor may see that in spite of great potential, the student is too inexperienced in the college system to know how best to maximize that potential. In such a case, the mentor can help lead the student through the maze of choosing courses, maneuvering amongst the factions of institutional politics, and introduce him or her to others in the faculty or the community whose interest will be of benefit during school and beyond.

In most quality institutions of higher education, the ethnic background of mentor and student probably will be of little importance to either of them. This often holds true, also, in business settings (where diversity often is a part of the mission statement): A person new to a company will be grateful for the guidance of a more experienced employee (or member of management) who is willing to help her avoid pitfalls that are peculiar to that company (or industry) and also give her tips about what sort of efforts on her part are likely to result in furthering her progress within the company. A good mentor is a good mentor, and that's what counts.

Then there is the kind of mentoring in which an adult commits to spending time with a child or teenager each week, such as the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. The program supervisors will do their very best, in this kind of situation, to make a match that will provide the youngster with the mentor who is most likely to have a positive influence on the child's life. Here, ethnicity will be taken into consideration but the goal will not be, automatically, to have every child matched up with a mentor of the same ethnic background.

Some situations will, indeed, call for someone of the same racial or cultural origin. For instance, a child whose life experience has shown her only the worst of her ethnic group, may be matched up with a mentor who is of the same ethnicity but who has had a more positive experience and can help the child see that many people of her culture are successful, proud of their heritage, and respected both within and outside of their community. Thus, the child may develop a much better attitude about her own potential for a happy and productive life.

Another child may have grown up distrusting people who are not of his background. Matching him with someone of a different racial or cultural background,

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