Drawing from my lived experiences, I offer the following

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the limitations and recommendations of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Navigating supervisor conflicts: The experiences of black postgraduate students in South African Higher Education Institutions (2026) · International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293) · doi

  This study’s qualitative design and reliance on a small purposive sample of six black PG students limit its generalizability to wider populations across South African HEIs. Participants were self-selected based on reported supervisory conflicts, potentially introducing selection bias toward more extreme experiences and underrepresenting students with positive or neutral supervision experiences. The narrative data, while rich in depth, drew from retrospective accounts that may be influenced by ongoing frustrations or memory reconstruction. It lacked triangulation through supervisor or institutional perspectives. 320 Mmapaseka & Matshonisa, International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy, 8(2), (2026) 316-324 Additionally, the focus on black students' experiences, while intentional to address equity gaps, did not systematically compare dynamics with white or other racialized peers. This constrains insights into intersectional influences beyond race and gender. Geographic and disciplinary diversity was constrained to unspecified universities of technology and traditional institutions, which then potentially disregarded variations in rural versus urban or STEM versus humanities contexts. Lastly, the absence of longitudinal follow-up prevents assessing long-term resolution outcomes post-intervention, such as graduation rates or career impacts.

  generallimitationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: students experiences black potentially versus qualitative design reliance small purposive sample limit generalizability wider populations
• Motherhood and the Pursuit of a Doctorate as a Full-Time Housing Professional (2026) · Journal of College & University Student Housing · doi

  Drawing from my lived experiences, I offer the following guidance to Black women pursuing doctoral study, and to the institutions, the supervisors, and the advisors who are positioned to support them. These insights are grounded in both my journey and in what research affirms about persistence, support, and culturally responsive practices. Black Women, This is For You! • Believe in your capacity to succeed in a doctoral program and know you are worthy of centering your personal and professional goals. • Intentionally build your support networks beyond family and work to include those who celebrate you and hold you accountable. • Choose programs and mentors that honor your whole self. • Protect your joy and peace and remember, as Lorde (1988) reminds us, self-care is an act of political warfare. Institutional and Supporting Cast, This is For You! Institutions and supporters play a critical role in fostering success. Family-friendly policies, culturally responsive mentorship (Bertrand Jones et al., 2015), and recognition of the emotional labor Black women contribute are essential to sustaining them in academic spaces. Developing intersectional professional development opportunities that affirm their full identities transforms advocacy into action, ensuring Black women can thrive, lead, and complete the journeys they begin.

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: black women doctoral support your professional institutional them journey experiences family self jones create narratives
• Fugitive Mentorship and Cultivating Expansive Futures: (2026) · Current Issues in Education · doi

  Our recommendations for stewarding Black Educational Futures are threefold: 1) Black representation matters to thriving BES; 2) systemic school implementation of racial literacy can improve culturally responsive mentorship; 3) Fugitive Mentorship must be relevant to the youth it aims to serve. We hope that, through our layered autoethnographic inquiry, we illustrate how to cultivate expansive Black Educational futures that disrupt systemic anti-Blackness (Sharpe, 2017). To begin, Black adult representation remains essential when mentoring youth of color. Research shows that school systems that intentionally implement hiring and retention practices for Black faculty reduce the racial battle fatigue (Pizarro & Kohli, 2020) and do not overburden them with the sole responsibility of leading affinity spaces (Stanley, 2025). Next, school systems can systematically implement racial literacy professional development to offer more culturally responsive mentorship, rather than replicating this type of Fugitive Mentorship in other educational contexts, which would go against the aim of this paper. While some educators might have had some prior experience with culturally relevant historical literacy (Mihammad, 2020) and racial literacy framework (Sealey-Ruiz, 2022), in recent community-based mentorship literature, non-Black mentors, who make a large majority of the volunteer base (similar to educators) report not having had adequate training to discuss topics around race and culture (Jones et al., 2022). To minimize racial liberalism (Oto et al., 2020; Sealey-Ruiz, 2022), we propose that administration and teacher education departments engage with racial literacy before beginning in-service teaching. Lastly, effective BSU advisors know how to listen to young Current Issues in Education, 27(1) 15 GERMAN, SMITH, BERNARD & WILKERSON: FUGITIVE MENTORSHIP people. We know youth already act as liaisons and consultants to their respective communities. By sharing our BSU advisors’ experiences, we hope to get closer to our goal of having Black youth leaders’ voices heard and respected. By listening to the youth who hold the future in their hands, we can disrupt anti-Blackness in educational contexts by Fugitive Mentorship: co- conspire, resist, and heal together.

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: black mentorship racial literacy youth educational fugitive school culturally futures representation systemic responsive relevant hope

Questions about this gap