Conversations About Mentoring With Dr. Phillip J. Bowman: Role Strain, Adaptation, and Alchemy

Abstract

Many facets of higher education reflect elite institutions with ways of knowing and being that overwhelmingly reflect white culture. Historically and currently, African Americans and other marginalized groups have been largely excluded from attending predominantly white institutions or experiencing a sense of belonging, if admitted. This chapter is the culmination of over 20 years of conversations between Drs Phillip Bowman and Ruby Mendenhall that started when Mendenhall was a graduate student. This chapter is also an oral history because firsthand accounts of significant life courses and historical events are provided. This oral history captures Drs Bowman and Mendenhall’s childhood and their trajectory through (under)graduate school and as professors researching role strain and adaptation. Some historical events and places discussed include the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, Affirmative Action, and Saginaw, Michigan’s auto industry foundries as sites of Black resistance. Bowman responds to questions about his role strain and adaptation theorizing and methodology. This chapter concludes with Drs Bowman and Mendenhall lighting a path for the next generation of scholars who will engage his role strain and adaptation research. At the end is information about the documentary “Bowman the Alchemist: Transforming Students’ Souls and Lives in the Fire” on Dr Bowman’s research and mentoring from the perspective of former graduate students: Drs Ruby Mendenhall, Brendesha Tynes, Tondra Loder-Jackson, Judy Stewart, Micere Keels, William Smith, and Mosi Ifatunji.