Mentoring and Career Development: 2022 Crowley and Lovell

Daniel Crowley is a research grantee studying ways to improve the use of research evidence for child and family policy. He has mentored numerous students and scholars of color throughout his career, with mentees ranging from middle school students to tenured university faculty. In 2020, Crowley was selected into the inaugural cohort of the Society for Prevention Research’s mentoring program specializing in cross-race relationships. From this experience, Crowley, a White heterosexual male, gained more insight into areas of growth he needs to pursue so that he can better support people from different backgrounds and sociocultural contexts than his. Crowley’s goals include developing the skills and deep sensitivities needed to effectively mentor and support minoritized scholars. With this award, Crowley will continue his journey of learning to help his mentees process professional experiences that stem from the intersection of their gender and racial identities. Crowley plans to embed deep reflection about the meaning of White privilege and seniority into his advisory approach. He plans to elicit and engage in honest and open conversations about race and privilege to normalize discussing these topics within mentoring relationships. Crowley notes that if he and others like him fail to gain these skills and adapt their approaches, minoritized faculty will continue to take on a disproportionate share of responsibilities for mentoring minoritized students. Crowley’s mentee, Antoine Lovell, is a Black postdoctoral fellow at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Lovell’s program of research focuses on policymakers’ use of scientific evidence related to youth homelessness and housing for marginalized groups. Lovell’s goals for this award include career strategic planning, writing, publishing, and identifying external funding opportunities to support his independent scholarship.