African American women and the academy: Using career mentoring to increase research productivity.

What factors contribute to African American women academic psychologists successfully negotiating the tenure and promotion process? Does the absence of quality mentoring negatively impact the ability of African American women academic psychologists to be productive researchers? These questions originated from numerous discussions, observations, and experiences of the two authors, and are rooted in the fact that there are relatively low numbers of tenured African American women psychology professors at research universities. In this article, we explore the barriers and challenges that impede the professional development of African American women academic psychologists in research oriented institutions. We also discuss general as well as sex and race sensitive strategies that will positively impact the professional development of African American women academic psychologists. 1