Constructing mentors:: Latina educational leaders role models and mentors

This article reports on the mentoring aspects of a qualitative study of 6 Mexican American female school leaders in west Texas. One goal of the study was the identification of any individuals who had been role models or mentors important to the careers of these women. A role model was defined as someone whose characteristics or traits another person would want to emulate; a mentor was defined as someone who actively helps, supports, or teaches someone else how to do a job so that she will succeed. The findings indicate that for the Latina educational leaders in the study, significant role models and mentors, primarily from nonprofessional areas of the women's lives, mitigated the absence of a formal, traditional mentoring relationship. Moreover, the experiences of these school leaders demonstrate that these Latinas assembled or constructed a mentor from varied sources that collectively met their specific needs and priorities.