What is Cross-Racial Mentoring

In this chapter, Nina Monet Reynoso, Kiana Foxx, Azeb Tadesse, and Cymone Mack present their findings from research on the inaugural year of the Bunche Research Fellowship (BRF), a university-sponsored research program geared towards partnering Black undergraduate students with Black faculty and graduate student mentors. Utilizing surveys and in-depth online interviews of mentors and faculty members, the authors document the role of mentorship on Black undergraduates. The authors theorize that participation in the program bolsters student skills and confidence in pursuing careers related to research and inquiry. Findings suggest mentoring is associated with community building, career exploration, and improvements in the undergraduate to graduate school pipeline. The chapter provides readers with an overview of this successful mentorship program and suggests best practices for increasing and improving the pipeline for Black Americans entering higher education.