“Stop Saying That You Are Not Good Enough”: Crafting Asset-Based Identities of International Asian Women Scholars Through Relational Mentoring

Abstract

This trioethnographical study explores the influence of relational mentoring in developing the identities of three international Asian women scholars from different career stages within the field of human resource development (HRD) in the United States. By capturing our voices through personal narratives drawn from our day-to-day lived experiences, the study documents our transformative journey from “being” to “becoming.” Through a collaborative, qualitative analysis of mentoring transcripts and daily journals, the findings illustrate how relational mentoring serves as a framework to deconstruct our deficit-based identities. This deconstruction is facilitated by dismantling hierarchy, questioning presumed incompetence, and problematizing structural inequities. Engaging in constructive dialogues within this framework enabled us to craft our asset-based identities, where we embraced the roles of supporters, decenterers, and connectors.