Date of Conferral

8-24-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Anthony Muscarella

Abstract

Hispanic/Latino professionals remain underrepresented in senior leadership positions across industries in the United States. Organizational leaders need to understand this concern as a critical indicator of factors that may shape leadership development and career advancement among underrepresented professionals. Grounded in the mentoring model, the purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study was to understand the meaning of mentoring for Puerto Rican diaspora professionals seeking career advancement in the United States. The participants comprised 10 Puerto Rican professionals living and working in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area who had participated in formal or informal mentoring relationships. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Four themes emerged from the IPA: (a) advancement pathways, (b) self-initiated mentoring pathways, (c) contextual enablers and constraints, and (d) mentoring as strategic and tangible leverage. Findings indicated mentoring was experienced as situational and context-dependent, shaped by organizational culture, migration timing, and perceived organizational barriers to advancement. Mentoring was commonly used as a practical strategy for gaining access, visibility, and promotion opportunities, rather than solely as psychosocial support, and it held relational and cultural meaning for some participants. The implications for tangible social impact are the potential for organizational leaders to develop culturally responsive mentoring practices that expand leadership opportunities and promote equitable career advancement among Puerto Rican diaspora professionals within diverse workplaces.

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