Griffin: Acknowledge identity for stronger mentoring relationships

If you want to build a strong mentoring partnership, don’t discount the importance of bringing identity into the conversation, says Kimberly Griffin.


Kimberly Griffin speaks to an audience from behind a podium and computer.

Credit: Provided

Kimberly Griffin presents the 2024 MAC Public Keynote.

Griffin, dean of the College of Education and professor of higher education at the University of Maryland, presented the 2024 MAC Public Keynote on Feb. 29, tilted, “Equity-Minded Mentorship-Why and How Identity Matters.”

“Mentorship is an integration, for me, of career development, academic development and psychosocial commitment,” she said. “It is not a mentoring relationship, in my mind, unless there’s a sense of caring between two people.”

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