What is Cross-Cultural Mentoring, and How Does it Benefit Both Sides?

Mentorship programs are designed to empower people and help them achieve personal or professional goals. Mentors serve as a source of knowledge and may help mentees overcome different life challenges. It can happen that a woman may want a mentoring relationship with a woman, whereas a man would want a mentor-mentee relationship. However, the main aim of mentoring is to reduce the gaps and assist an individual in growing. Cross-cultural mentoring talks about relationships where mentors and mentees may have differences. It could be race, gender, ethnicity, disability, or socio-economic class differences. It may even include the social beliefs and values that the mentor and mentee might hold. Let us understand cross-cultural mentorship and determine how it could benefit both.

What is Cross-Cultural Mentorship?

It has been found that students and mentees looking for a mentorship relationship mostly belongs to underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. We can say that women, specially-abled, and socio-economic weaker sections of society often face a multitude of challenges. Lack of access to resources prevents them from growing. This is one of the reasons why mentoring these groups become essential. We can say that women different studies have found that mentor does not have to be from the same group. This is how cross-cultural mentoring came into being. It is an ongoing and mutually beneficial mentoring relationship with someone from a different background.  

Mentees whose socio-capital and educational backgrounds have been sources could highly benefit from this type of mentorship program. Cross-cultural mentorship could be a positive approach to help different people understand their values or respect others’ around them.  

The foundation of cross-cultural mentoring lies in the following three Vs.: 

• Values: It accounts for how two people may hold the same values, irrespective of their cultural differences and traditions. The more common the values, the more likely it is to be a positive relationship. 
• Virtues: The ability to know and deal with different types of personalities, cultures, and experiences.
• Vision: This is when two people hold the same vision of building a more inclusive environment. A commitment to the same kind of vision is required for the personal and professional growth of the person. 

Benefits of Cultural Mentoring for Mentors

A mentoring relationship can be beneficial for both mentors and mentees. Here are some of the ways in which cross-cultural mentoring may help the mentors 

• Expand learnings: Learning about new cultures and understanding them is one of the most effective ways to expand your thinking capabilities. It could help you become more aware of the challenges you might be facing and how to address them. 
• Cultivate leadership skills: Cross-cultural mentoring will enhance your leadership abilities and build more effective communication skills. Leaders have to think about different groups and deal with people from diverse backgrounds. Building a mentoring relationship with a mentee from a different cultural background could improve your cultural awareness, which could be an advantage while implementing your leadership. 

• Different perspectives: Exposure to new perspectives could increase self-awareness and assist in professional development. It will help a mentor become more empathetic and understanding. He/she could even get an expanded network from diverse groups, which can contribute to the individual’s overall growth. 

Benefits of Cultural Mentoring for Mentees

Here are some of the ways cross-cultural mentoring can help the mentees:

• Personal development: At times, it may happen that the mentee might find it challenging to coordinate and communicate with an individual from the same group. Sharing with the other groups can provide a better perspective and may make them feel more encouraged. It could be beneficial for their personal development and empower them to progress further.
• Achieve career goals: Individuals who seek mentors often need guidance to improve their careers and achieve professional goals. Cross-cultural mentoring could help them analyze the different challenges that could arise in the professional arena because of the existence of diverse groups. Although one should aim at building inclusive workplaces, it also raises the risk of biases. Mentoring relationships with individuals from different cultures could help them understand how to deal with such a situation and meet professional goals, irrespective of the challenges.
• Reduce gaps: Mentees will get guidance which will help reduce the gaps and improve their knowledge. It may even help in increasing the mentee’s confidence. This type of cross-cultural mentoring may help them understand how to communicate with people from different backgrounds. If a mentee is at a learning stage, it could help them learn how to build a good network. Knowledge of networking skills is beneficial for an individual’s personal and professional development at all stages of life. 

Challenges of Cross-Cultural Mentoring

The challenges in any mentoring relationship arise because of biases, assumptions, and differences in terms of values and expectations. People with different cultural backgrounds are born with different cultural beliefs, which could pose a threat to mentoring. Before fostering the mentor-mentee relationship, both participants should discuss their goals and objectives. It could help gain an understanding of how cultural connections could impact the mindset. In other cases, cross-cultural mentoring could open doors for an innovative partnership that may allow them to grow significantly.