title: The elephant in the room: Dialogues about race within cross-cultural supervisory relationships.
abstract: For centuries, the concept of race, a uniquely pervasive social construct, has often complicated dialogue and interactions between groups of people. This study assessed perceptions and attitudes of faculty and trainees with varied racial backgrounds within graduate medical and psychology programs. Self-reported responses addressed potential barriers and facilitating factors required for meaningful conversations about race.
  
  
  
  A brief 18-question survey was developed and administered electronically to three professional and academic Listservs within a large metropolitan city in northeast United States. Quantitative and qualitative analysis were conducted using SPSS Statistical Software and Text analyzer.
  
  
  
  Results revealed that among participants (N = 57) a majority experienced cross-racial supervision, and more than half indicated engaging in conversations about race within supervision. Respondents endorsed lack of comfort and lack of opportunity/time as significant barriers to discussing race within supervision. When race-related dialogues occurred, a majority of supervisees and supervisors found it beneficial. Most Supervisors of Color(a) actively initiated these conversations in supervision, while White supervisees endorsed the least benefit from these conversations. Contrary to our expectations, few respondents endorsed limited training as a barrier.
  
  
  
  The current study revealed cross-racial dialogues about race may be occurring frequently in supervisory relationships. Supervisees of Color reported benefiting from these dialogues, in contrast to their White counterparts, who endorsed the least benefit. Lack of comfort in supervisory relationships appears to be a significant barrier to having these conversations. Therefore, it is important for supervisors to create supervisory relationships emphasizing safety and comfort. Directions for future research are discussed.
authors: Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA twhited@montefiore.org.
authors: Tanya
authors: T
authors: White-Davis
authors: VA New Jersey Healthcare System, East Orange, NJ, USA.
authors: Emma
authors: E
authors: Stein
authors: Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors: Alison
authors: A
authors: Karasz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D044469:Racial Groups; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: cross-cultural; cross-racial; culture; race; supervision; supervisory relationship