384 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
the sick and wounded from that war (Lewis, 2013). Sanger, an early American nursing
activist, “emphasized the necessity of birth control in reducing the reproduction of the
‘unfit,’” reinforcing “the notion that the fertility of the poor, and by extension that of the
Black race, was a proper subject of social and governmental control” (Holland, 2011, p.
19). This racialized history, nursing’s tradition, and normalized values of whiteness are
foundational in shaping the profession even until today with how education, practice,
leadership, and mentorship are effected (Schroeder & DeAngelo, 2010).
Although increased numbers of people from minority cultures are enrolling in
doctoral programs (AACN, 2015c), individual, institutional, and systemic discrimina-
tory practices have created a system of barriers to advanced nursing practice and lead-
ership in health care and academia. These barriers to upward mobility and practice for
nurses from minority cultures challenge nursing today, and are shown in:
- Lack of mentors from underrepresented groups (i.e., gender, religion, ethnic
heritage, sexual orientation— lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender) - No training or insufficient training in cultural sensitivity for faculty, providers,
and administrators who serve as mentors - Lack of explicit antiracist emancipatory work in the profession of nursing espe-
cially among our leaders - Doctoral programs that require on- campus residency, making it challenging if
not impossible for many candidates with family obligations to attend - Insufficient funding support for a doctoral study, which impedes the career ad-
vancement of many nurses who are sole financial supports of their families
Mentoring has special significance for faculty of minority status. Without such
help, these faculty members can have difficulty cracking the old girls’ network as well
as exposing and challenging whiteness and its associated privileges. A mentor can be
very helpful in this regard, as successful mentoring can help minority and marginalized
doctoral students climb the professional ladder and aid in the dismantling of inequities
encountered by underrepresented nurses seeking DNPs. For historical reasons, owing
to their prominence in senior positions, middle- aged European American women pre-
dominantly have fulfilled the role of mentor in the Western world. Even though they
can be capable mentors to members of underrepresented groups, there needs to be
heightened critical consciousness and sensitivity when cultural differences surface in
order to cultivate a fulfilling and mutually beneficial relationship.
The number of students from minority backgrounds who are enrolling in graduate
and doctoral nursing programs has been slowly but steadily rising for the past 5 years,
underscoring the growing need for mentors who can best understand and support this
population. By 2014, students from minority backgrounds represented 39.1% of enroll-
ments in master of science in nursing (MSN) programs, 40% of enrollments in nursing
PhD programs, and 34.8% of enrollments in DNP programs (AACN, 2015c). However,
just 12% of all nursing faculty are from minority backgrounds (Beard & Volcy, 2013).
Membership of minority cultures in many professional nursing organizations are
also disproportionate to their total number in the population, which was 37% in 2012,
and predicted to become the majority population by 2043 (AACN, 2015c). For instance,
the latest survey of American Academy of Nurse Practitioners membership shows 4.9%
are African American, 3.6 % are Hispanic American, and 1.5% are American Indian/
Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander/ biracial (Cook & Riley, 2014).
The AACN has examined this disparity in minority representation in advanced
nursing practice. It calls for all nursing education programs to strive for ethnic and
racial diversity in its faculty and students (AACN, 2015c). Meeting this goal will take a
combination of collective will, focused recruiting, support, networking, and mentoring