@KGuilaine Nobody is sure who first came up with the idea or ‘concept’. But in 1999, Jack Welch, then CEO of General Electric, made it popular #PkClinic
@KGuilaine The goal then was to ensure business could keep up with the advances brought by the internet & benefit from the cultural capital of younger employees #PKClinic
@KGuilaine Now, I did a little bit of google work and came accross many sites claiming RV is a useful tool to increase diversity & inclusion & equality in the workplace. Many institutions are running themes they call RV...I was a little worried #pkclinic
@KGuilaine So did some more serious academic searches to see if I could back up these statements empirically. I could not really. The direct evidence is light if not non-existent. That is our first problem #PkClinic
@KGuilaine Now let’s not get carried away and discount such initiatives completely on the basis of there being zero to very light (direct) evidence base in terms of RM increasing equality, we need to think a little harder ☺️ #PKClinic
@KGuilaine Actually...for there is much indirect evidence that will bear some relevance here in adjacent academic areas...and that is probably why RM may seem intuitive/proven to some #PKClinic
@KGuilaine For example in social psychology ... we know that increased social contact often helps decrease conflicts #PKCLinic
@KGuilaine We also know that segregation is liked to lack of cultural competence and even to bias. Of course there are other factors which may mediate...those are associations, but what it tells us is, let’s not discount too quickly #PKClinic
@KGuilaine At least not on empirical grounds. Now of course the juicy bit is the ethics of RM, and personally this is where I feel we need to stop & think very carefully #PKClinic
@KGuilaine Ethical problem 1, start with the word reverse. The most useful definition of mentoring see the relationship as egalitarian & learning as shared #pKclinic
@KGuilaine The word learning however de facto normalises standard power configurations and with that who is expert in the room or again who is the knower. #pkclinic
@KGuilaine If not why call the initiative reverse mentoring & not simply mentoring? The word reverse gamify & I would argue trivialise the lived experience, the lived expertise of minoritised mentors #PKClinic
@KGuilaine Ethical problem number 2, again in my review of what’s about, the overwhelming majority of the drawbacks were focussed on the mentee...not the mentor #pKclinic
@KGuilaine So arguments were centred on not making senior employees feel alienated or undervalued in the organisation. I won’t even start to unpack these #PKClinic
@KGuilaine Tell me how to use Twitter is not the same as tell me what it is like to navigate this organisation as a woman, as a Muslim, as one of few black people as trans or as disabled #PKClinic
@KGuilaine And/or as all or some of those identifies. We need to be cautions safety & vulnerability wise #PKClinic
@KGuilaine I have written about these issues a bit more critically, highlighting the emotional costs & risks to the marginalised & the configuration of power reproduced. Please factor that in #pKclinic (and pls check Race Reflections, if you are interested)
@KGuilaine Ethical problem number 3, is the lack of formal support and recognition. Both must come together? Are reverse mentors paid? What support is available for them? Is their input promotable? If you are uncertain, you may want to do a little more thinking #PKClinic
@KGuilaine Happy to respond to a few questions. My personal position, I would not discount it, but boy oh boy does if need a lot more tightening #pkclinic
