Document Type (Journals)
Original Research
Abstract
Mentorship provides crucial support and guidance for students, significantly influencing their academic and professional success. Mentorship experiences can vary considerably, with students from historically underrepresented groups facing racism, discrimination, and a lack of opportunities in their professional development. Despite the recognized need for culturally sensitive mentorship, there is a lack of literature within occupational therapy that focuses on the mentoring experiences of students from historically underrepresented groups. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring occupational therapy students’ mentoring needs and experiences to inform the future development of culturally sensitive mentoring programs. Utilizing a cross-sectional survey, the study collected responses from 133 students; 59 identified as being a student from a historically underrepresented group. Descriptive statistics and between-group comparisons were used for data analysis, while responses to open-ended questions were analyzed through content analysis. Overall, study results indicated that current mentorship programming was insufficient for occupational therapy students from historically underrepresented groups. Students expressed a desire for mentors who not only understood the complexities of transitioning from academia to clinical practice but also demonstrated cultural humility and incorporated empathy, anti-racism allyship, and support for handling workplace discrimination in their mentoring. These results provide evidence of the need for occupational therapy programs to implement culturally sensitive mentorship programs to facilitate transitions from student to practitioner that integrate career support with emotional and social validation and help students cope with cultural isolation, microaggressions, and systemic racism. By implementing such mentorship programs, occupational therapy programs could enhance equity, inclusion, educational outcomes, and professional resilience for students from historically underrepresented groups.
Biography
Janet Njelesani, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA is an Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at NYU. She identifies as a white, non-disabled, cisgender woman. She is committed to addressing racism, oppression, access, and equity as an academic, activist, ally, and occupational therapy practitioner. Her scholarship focuses on promoting occupational participation for individuals from historically underrepresented communities.
Shanteria Watson, OTD, OTR/L is an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at Howard University. She identifies as a Black, non-disabled, cisgender woman. Her research focuses on improving health service access and participation for minoritized children with autism and developmental disabilities and supporting pathways for minoritized students in occupational therapy education.
Amanda Gahlot, PhD, OTR/L, BCPR, at NYU, identifies as a white, non-disabled, cisgender woman. She is committed to enhancing inclusion and equity in occupational therapy. Her research focus includes occupational engagement and rehabilitation in persons with acquired brain injury, with an interest in promoting resiliency to enhance long-term outcomes.
Ayesha Ahmed is a psychology major at NYU Abu Dhabi and a researcher in NYU’s Disability-based Violence Prevention Lab. As a BIPOC, Hindi-speaking, cisgender woman, she is dedicated to advancing IDBEA through initiatives that promote equitable study-away and address disparities stemming from global migration and gender inequality in professional settings.
Grace Kim, PhD, OTR/L is an Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at NYU. She identifies as an Asian, non-disabled, cisgender woman, dedicated to advocating for health equity. Her scholarship focuses on self-directed and shared decision-making approaches in stroke rehabilitation to facilitate the transition back into the community for persons with chronic stroke.
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Recommended Citation
Njelesani, J., Watson, S., Gahlot, A., Ahmed, A., & Kim, G. (2025). Culturally Sensitive Mentorship in Occupational Therapy Education. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 9 (3). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2025.090302
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.