Mentoring educational leadership doctoral students: Using methodological diversification to examine gender and identity intersections

An essential component to learning and teaching in educational leadership is mentoring graduate students for successful transition to K-12 and higher education positions. This study integrates quantitative and qualitative datasets to examine doctoral students’ experiences with mentoring from macro and micro perspectives. Findings show that students have varied perceptions on what constitutes quality mentoring and wide-ranging experiences in terms of the quantity and quality of mentoring experienced. Moreover, findings suggest that the ways students perceive and experience mentoring is related to their identity factors, especially gender. Findings have implications for strengthening this essential component of leadership preparation programs; and thus, recommendations for different strategies, programmatic supports, and structural changes within university departments and professional organizations are forwarded