The world is continually changing. As organizations become more diverse, the need to recognize and develop talent within others becomes more critical and more complex. Herein lies the fundamental dilemma that parties to these important relationships face. Based on a recent gathering in Amherst, the contributors of this volume attempted to help each other better understand the issues that they were facing in their own diversified mentoring relationships as mentors, proteges, or both. This volume is the result of their efforts.
Organized into three sections, the book focuses on the different types of mentoring perspectives--theoretical, empirical, and experiential. It addresses the following issues:
*"Developmental relationships"--the emerging themes and theoretical models that discuss the experiences of various ethnic populations,
*"Empirical evidence"--qualitative and quantitative research that examines the impact of diverse mentoring relationships,
*"First-hand accounts"--experiences that recount key lessons learned in various situations, including breaking the glass ceiling, among others.

The world is continually changing. As organizations become more diverse, the need to recognize and develop talent within others becomes more critical and more complex. Herein lies the fundamental dilemma that parties to these important relationships face. Based on a recent gathering in Amherst, the contributors of this volume attempted to help each other better understand the issues that they were facing in their own diversified mentoring relationships as mentors, proteges, or both. This volume is the result of their efforts. Organized into three sections, the book focuses on the different types of mentoring perspectives--theoretical, empirical, and experiential. It addresses the following issues: *Developmental relationships--the emerging themes and theoretical models that discuss the experiences of various ethnic populations, *Empirical evidence--qualitative and quantitative research that examines the impact of diverse mentoring relationships, *First-hand accounts--experiences that recount key lessons learned in various situations, including breaking the glass ceiling, among others.

The central question of this Element is this: What does it mean to be transgender - in general and in specific ways? What does the designation mean for any individual and for the groups in which the individual exists? Biologically, what occurs? Psychologically, what transpires? The Element starts with the basics. The authors question some traditional assumptions, lay out some bio-medical information, and define their terms. They then move to the question of central concern, seen first in terms of the individual and then in terms of the group or society. They conclude with some implications, urging some new approaches to research and suggest some applications in the classroom and beyond.

Since its inception, affirmative action has been a controversial policy, and on all sides of the issue passions run high. Sometimes commentators have looked with clarity at the deep and complex issues surrounding affirmative action, but too often facts have been in shorter supply than misinformed opinions. "Sex, Race, and Merit: Debating Affirmative Action in Education and Employment" is designed to enhance intelligent discussion of the issues, presenting all sides of the controversy and working to separate fact from fiction.
"Sex, Race, and Merit" brings together a rich array of material, including newspaper articles and essays by leading scholars. including William Bowen, Derek Bok, Barbara Bergmann, Christopher Edley, Barbara Reskin, Claude Steele, and Patricia Williams. Also featured are excerpts from primary sources, including the legislative documents that established affirmative action policy; the text of California Proposal 200, which ended such policy in that state; and excerpts from key legal cases, including the Bakke case and other recent cases.
"Sex, Race, and Merit" is a useful tool in eliciting thoughtful, informed, and useful debate on the subject of affirmative action. It neither advocates in favor of affirmative action, nor does it speak against it. Rather, by including both factual and polemical materials, the book allows readers to explore the contours of the debate as well as the facts being debated. It is designed for an audience of nonspecialist readers, including students from secondary school through college, but will also be useful to scholars interested in the evolution and current status of this critical policy debate.
Faye J. Crosby is Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz. Cheryl VanDeVeer is Director of the Document Publishing and Editing Center, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Racism and sexism remain prevalent in societies today. Based on this proven premise, the authors of Affirmative Action in Perspective maintain that a policy of equal opportunity as practiced in America is not a feasible, realistic solution to the "legacy of racial and sexual discrimination". Drs. Blanchard and Crosby have edited a volume which clearly displays their conviction that affirmative action as a policy has the potential to establish a society more equitable than the society we know now. Distinguished contributors to this volume discuss the policy from a level of definition to actual case studies and further, to the theoretical examination of the justice of affirmative action. Throughout the book the urgency of questioning current policies is evident; so too is the need for basic understanding of the realities of injustice which draw the line between the advantaged and the disadvantaged.

Affirmative action is a much-debated policy, in employment as well as in education, in the Supreme Court as well as on the street. Yet as this book shows, affirmative action is both sensible and effective, differing little from many other government programs that evoke no controversy. Why don't Americans wholeheartedly support affirmative action? In this timely and accessible book, Faye J. Crosby analyzes several different explanations offered by social scientists to answer this important question. Some explanations suggest that opposition stems from a belief that affirmative action functions as a governmentally sanctioned form of reverse racism or sexism, or that it is ineffective or socially disruptive. Other explanations locate the problem in the ignorance or prejudice of the people who oppose the policy. Crosby concludes by offering a different explanation, proposing that the American failure to endorse wholeheartedly what is a fair and effective policy arises, ironically, from Americans' infatuation with justice. Smitten with the concept of merit, says Crosby, we are perturbed by a policy that invites us to recognize the complications of social justice.

Hailed at the time of its original publication as a thorough and balanced debate of one of America's most vexing political issues, Affirmative Action employs a pro and con format to provide a concise introduction to this divisive debate. In a new, substantive introduction, Richard F. Tomasson offers a short history of the affirmative action debate and addresses new developments since the book's original appearance. In Part One, authors Crosby and Herzberger draw on state and federal court decisions, federal decrees, and university practices to support affirmative action to counter racial and gender bias. In Part Two, Tomasson cites the same kinds of evidence to argue against affirmative action programs.

In Justice, Gender, and Affirmative Action, Susan D. Clayton and Faye J. Crosby shed new light on a controversial policy. The authors argue that because society cannot rely upon individuals' perceptions of unfair treatment, there must be a mechanism for the proactive prevention of discrimination. Affirmative Action provides such a mechanism, as its operation doesn't require that a victim of discrimination come forward on her own behalf.