New Research Documents a Resistance-Based Model of Academic Mentoring

Torres, M. G., Mata, I., & Treviño Peña, M. (2026). Convivencia: Creating community networks of resistance. Journal of Latinos and Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2026.2661993

Introduction

Traditional academic mentoring was designed for a system that was never designed for everyone. For BIPOC faculty at predominantly white institutions, hierarchical one-on-one mentoring relationships frequently reproduce the very power imbalances they are meant to navigate around. Torres and colleagues (2026) argue that what is needed instead is feminist, community-centered mentoring grounded in relationality, storytelling, and an unflinching awareness of institutional inequity. Their work documents four years of building exactly that, culminating in Convivencia: A Symposium on Mentoring, held in March 2025 as the political landscape for faculty of color was deteriorating rapidly.

Methods

First, a qualitative needs assessment survey was conducted in Spring 2021 with over 180 BIPOC faculty from across the U.S., the majority based in New England. Second, a cohort-based pilot mentoring program was implemented across two academic years (2021–22 and 2022–23), matching 10 early-career BIPOC scholars per cohort with trained senior mentors and providing eight structured monthly workshops. Third, the Convivencia symposium brought 38 faculty of color together across institutions and disciplines.

Results

The needs assessment found that while 65% of respondents had prior mentoring experience and 46% described it as having a positive life impact, only 19% had participated in formal institutional programs, with satisfaction and dissatisfaction split among those who had. Survey respondents consistently identified interpersonal qualities such as constructive feedback, active listening, honesty, work-life balance awareness, and cultural responsiveness, as more important than professional credentials. Approximately 70% of prior mentoring experiences were described as beneficial; 30% were characterized as problematic. The cohort program generated extraordinary demand: over 130 applicants competed for 10 spots in year one. Mentees organically formed writing groups and peer support networks that outlasted the formal program.

Discussion

The authors frame their program as a feminist testimonio, both a pedagogical method and an act of resistance. The institutional independence of the program was not incidental but essential: it allowed mentoring to be defined by participants’ needs rather than by tenure metrics or grant deliverables. The Convivencia symposium became more than a professional gathering; it functioned as community building and political solidarity during a period of sustained institutional threat.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

Programs should be designed by and for the communities they serve, led by BIPOC faculty with demonstrated commitment to mentee advancement, and structured around cohort and peer models rather than isolated dyads. Mentor training is foundational.

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