Mixed Race Studies

What are you? For multiracial students, declaring an identity can be complicated

Princeton Alumni Weekly
Princeton University
2010-01-13 Issue

Maya Rock (Class of 2002)

In my first few weeks at Princeton, I became accustomed to fielding questions: What’s your background? Where are your parents from? And the strikingly ­existential: What are you?  

What the questioners really meant was, what race was I? The question said a lot to me about how important race was in America, even if direct discussion of the topic seemed reserved for special holidays or ­incendiary news stories. My answer was, “I’m half black and half white” — a response that made me an anomaly. People were used to divvying one another up into five neat racial categories. After giving my response, I knew, white students would censor what they said about race in front of me, and black students would expect a certain solidarity. I often wished I did not respond at all; I didn’t want to be a spokeswoman for an experience many considered fascinating but which was, for me, ­completely normal…

Read the entire article here.

Negotiating Social Contexts: Identities of Biracial College Women

Information Age Publishing
2007
79 pages
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59311-596-8
eBook ISBN: 9781607527107

Edited by:

Andra M. Basu, Dean of Adult and Professional Studies
Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania

This book examines the identification choices of a group of biracial college women and explores how these identifications relate to their choices and constructions of different social contexts. It is a qualitative study that draws on recent psychological literature, as well as personal interviews and focus groups with a group of biracial college women. The book includes 1) a review of the relevant literature concerning biracial individuals, 2) a discussion of some of the unique issues facing researchers who work with biracial populations, and 3) an indepth examination of the relationship between identity and different social contexts for a group of biracial women. The book addresses issues critical to educators, counselors, policy makers and researchers who work with biracial students, as well as biracial individuals and their families. For example, it shows how, for this group of biracial college women, identity choices did influence their choices and constructions of social contexts, particularly at the school that they all attended. Yet while identification choices did influence their perceptions about their social contexts, other factors such as social barriers also influenced them. Family members played a role in their identification choices as well, but siblings were found to be more influential than parents. In addition, the book demonstrates how educators and biracial mentors had a significant impact on this particular group of biracial women. The implications of these findings for parents, educators and future researchers are considered, as the number of biracial individuals living in the United States continues to grow.

Identity & Issues for Multiracial Students and College Campuses (Pre-Conference Institute #111)

NCORE^® 2010
23 Annual National Conference on Race & Enthnicity in American Higher Education
National Harbor, Maryland
2010-06-01 through 2010-06-05

A three‑part, highly interactive institute designed to provide participants a greater understanding of racial identity development for multiracial people and the issues surrounding them as they interface with different racial groups in their respective sociocultural environments. Using an assortment of educational approaches, the institute (1) presents historical and current models of racial identity development in multiracial people; (2) provides in‑depth reflection on personal perspectives and assumptions about multiracial identity; (3) discusses the implications of defining one’s self as multiracial, in campus and contemporary social settings; and (4) outlines some ways to promote inter‑group dialogue and coalition building between different racial groups and multiracial people on campuses and in community settings. The institute includes dialogue among participants who bring a wide range of perspectives about what it means to be multiracial on campus. In addition, the institute provides opportunities for participants to assess programs at their colleges and universities and develop action plans to further address the multiracial issues on their campuses. Presentations, experiential activities, and small- and large-group discussions allow participants to actively engage throughout the institute.

Overall Objectives:

1. Provide an overview of theoretical approaches to identity development of multiracial people.
2. Provide a minimum of three creative and experiential tools for exploring and understanding multiracial identity.
3. Provide roundtable discussions to address contemporary issues faced by Multiracial people on college campuses.
4. Provide roundtable discussions to assist participants in evaluating and growing their own institution’s multiracial programs.

Facilitated by: Charmaine L. Wijeyesinghe, Meg Chang and Dennis Leoutsakas.

For more information, click here.

Race Bending: “Mixed” Youth Practicing Strategic Racialization in California

Anthropology & Education Quarterly
Volume 35 Issue 1 (March 2004)
Pages 30-52
DOI: 10.1525/aeq.2004.35.1.30

Mica Pollock, Associate Professor of Education
Harvard University

As more U.S. youth claim “mixed” heritages, some adults are proposing to erase race words altogether from the nation’s inequality analysis. Yet such proposals, as detailed ethnography shows, ignore the complex realities of continuing racialized practice. At an urban California high school in the 1990s, “mixed” youth strategically employed simple “race” categories to describe themselves and inequality orders, even as they regularly challenged these very labels’ accuracy. In so “bending” race categories, these youth modeled a practical and theoretical strategy crucial for dealing thoughtfully with race in 21st century America.

Read or purchase the article here.

Biracial and Multiracial Students: New Directions for Student Services, Number 123

Jossey-Bass an imprint of John Wiley & Sons
October 2008
88 pages
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-470-42219-9

Edited by

Kristen A. Renn, Associate Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education
Michigan State University

Paul Shang, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students
University of Oregon

Editors and contributors of this important work have designed it to meet the needs of student affairs professionals who have previously had few resources on which to draw in understanding the experiences and identities of mixed race students.

Within a multiracial framework, the authors address the contemporary context for understanding racial issues on campus; several approaches to identity developments; experiences of students and faculty; and student services, programs, and policy, including a Canadian perspective.

A substantial amount of literature addresses developmental and service needs of monoracial students of color (Asian and Pacific Islander, Black, Latino, Native American), Student affairs educators have observed an increase in the number of biracial and multiracial college students: students who have parents from more than one federally defined racial or ethnic background such as Asian-White, Latino-Black, or Native-White-Latino. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this population is only going to increase. This volume is sure to become an indispensable resource for student affairs professionals serving the needs of this increasing student population.

This is the 123nd volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Student Services, an indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals.

Each issue of New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Table of Contents

Editor’s Notes

1. An Introduction to Social and Historical Factors Affecting Multiracial College Students (Paul Shang)
   This chapter introduces the volume by describing social and higher education challenges that impact the identities and experiences of traditional age biracial and multiracial college students.
2. Research on Biracial and Multiracial Identity Development: Overview and Synthesis (Kristen A. Renn)
   This chapter presents three main bodies of research on identity development of biracial and multiracial college students: foundational theories, ecological models, and psychological studies of the impact of multiracial identity.
3. Exploring the Experiences and Self-Labeling of Mixed-Race Individuals with Two Minority Parents (Donna M. Talbot)
   A student development researcher describes a qualitative study of ten mixed-race young adults whose parents are from different minority monoracial groups (Black, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, or Native American).
4. Student Perspectives on Multiracial Identity (Alissa R. King)
   In the context of research on multiracial student experiences, this chapter provides personal reflections of a multiracial individual on campus at a time when Who am I? and What are you? questions prevail.
5. Multiracial Student Services Come of Age: The State of Multiracial Student Services in Higher Education in the United States (Michael Paul A. Wong, Joshua Buckner)
   The authors describe emerging services to serve multiracial students, the service traditions from which these services evolve, how they are staffed, and their relationships with student organizations.
6. The Space in Between: Issues for Multiracial Student Organizations and Advising (C. Casey Ozaki, Marc Johnston)
   Based on research and experience working with multiracial student organizations and leaders, the authors describe the functions and challenges of these student groups and provide suggestions for student affairs educators who work with them.
7. Being Multiracial in a Wired Society: Using the Internet to Define Identity and Community on Campus (Heather Shea Gasser)
   This chapter describes established and emerging technologies, including online social networking, blogs, and wikis, that affect how multiracial students form communities and express their identities.
8. Bicultural Faculty and Their Professional Adaptation (Michael J. Cuyjet)
   An associate professor and graduate school dean describes the ways that minority faculty members, monoracial and biracial, must learn to be bicultural to thrive in the dominant culture of higher education at predominantly White institutions.
9. Looking North: Exploring Multiracial Experiences in a Canadian Context (Leanne Taylor)
   A Canadian scholar describes a particular context for understanding mixed-race college student experiences outside the United States and raises questions for higher education policy and student services practice.
10. Student Affairs and Higher Education Policy Issues Related to Multiracial Students (Angela Kellogg, Amanda Suniti Niskodé)
    This chapter describes student affairs policy issues that have particular impact on multiracial students, such as collecting and reporting data on student race/ethnicity, implementing campus programs and services, and enacting affirmative action.

Notes

The University of Iowa – Be Remarkable: Courtney Parker

University of Iowa
2009-06-08

Po Li Loo

Inspired by her multicultural background, a 2008 grad set out to connect campus groups and redefine diversity.

Courtney Parker came to The University of Iowa because of the renowned Writers’ Workshop. But in her time here, she discovered other passions.  Instead of penning poetry, the 2008 graduate found herself resurrecting the UI Black Student Union (BSU) and cultivating cross-cultural partnerships across campus…

…Parker has developed leadership skills at the UI, but her time here has also taught her how to be comfortable in her own skin. She grew up in a predominantly white, upper middle-class area in Connecticut, and had felt insecure about her mixed heritage. She sees herself first as an African American, but she also has English, Jewish, and Native American roots.

“It’s interesting that most people don’t look at me and recognize me as being African American,” she says. “But you can’t really spend much time with me without knowing that I’m black, without knowing that I’m Jewish.”

Her commitment to helping students transcends the UI. She was accepted by Teach for America and headed to North Carolina after graduation. The organization recruits recent graduates to teach for two years in rural and urban schools around the country…

Read the entire article here.

Students Create Course About Mixed Identities

A&S Perspectives
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Washington
Editor: Nancy Joseph
July 2009

Last fall, students in the UW Mixed Club—a campus group for students of mixed race—discussed how rarely mixed-race issues were being addressed in their courses. Then they decided to do something about it.

That experience whet the students’ appetite for a more formal offering. They developed a proposal for a student-led course, “Mixed Identities and Racialized Bodies,” and floated the idea by several department chairs. The first to respond with an enthusiastic “yes” was Women Studies Chair David Allen, who agreed to offer the course as Women Studies 256, a course number reserved for credit/no-credit student-led courses.

With Women Studies on board, the students moved into high gear. “It was like, ‘Remember that great idea we had? Now we need to follow through,’” recalls Jessica Norberg, one of the students who developed and facilitated the course.

Coming up with assigned readings was particularly daunting. “There’s no mixed-race canon, so we had to come up with that,” says Norberg, who credits classmate Samantha Gonzalez with taking the lead on reviewing the available literature. “Samantha was kind of our librarian,” says Norberg. “The girl can read a book in half an hour. She did a lot of the research.”…

…Of course, everyone in class felt they knew at least one person with a mixed-race identity: President Obama. “This class really came together at an awesome time,” says Norberg, referring to Obama bringing greater visibility to mixed race issues. Norberg is quick to add that mixed race is among the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S…

Read the entire article here.

Mixed Race Students in College: The Ecology of Race, Identity, and Community on Campus

SUNY Press
July 2004
308 pages
Hardback ISBN10: 0-7914-6163-7; ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6163-1
Paperback ISBN10: 0-7914-6164-5; ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6164-8

Kristen A. Renn, Associate Professor
Michigan State University

Portrays the diverse experiences and identities of mixed race college students.

Kristen A. Renn offers a new perspective on racial identity in the United States, that of mixed race college students making sense of the paradox of deconstructing racial categories while living on campuses sharply divided by race and ethnicity. Focusing on how peer culture shapes identity in public and private spaces, the book presents the findings of a qualitative research study involving fifty-six undergraduates from a variety of institutions. Renn uses an innovative ecology model to examine campus peer cultures and documents five patterns of multiracial identity that illustrate possibilities for integrating notions of identity construction (and deconstruction) with the highly salient nature of race in higher education. One of the most ambitious scholarly attempts to date to portray the diverse experiences and identities of mixed race college students, the book also discusses implications for higher education practice, policy, theory, and research.

Table Of Contents

• Preface
• 1. The Context of Mixed Race Students in American Higher Education
• 2. The Ecology of Multiracial Identity on Campus—An Analytic Framework and Research Design
• 3. Patterns of Multiracial Identity among College Students
• 4. I’m Black—Monoracial Identity
• 5. I’m Asian and Latina—Multiple Monoracial Identities
• 6. I’m Mixed—Multiracial Identity
• 7. I Don’t Check Any Boxes—Extraracial Identity
• 8. It Depends—Situational Identity
• 9. From Patterns to Practice—What Mixed Race Identity Patterns Mean for Educational Practice
• Appendix A: Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
• Appendix B: Summary of Study Participants
• Appendix C: Interview and Focus Group Protocols
• Notes

Educational Policy, Politics, and Mixed Heritage Students in the United States

Journal of Social Issues
Volume 65, Number 1 (March 2009)
pages 165-183
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01593.x

Kristen A. Renn, Professor of Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education
Michigan State University

This article describes local, state, and federal policies related to collecting, aggregating, and reporting data on student race and ethnicity in U.S. K-12 and postsecondary education. It traces data policy from the 1997 decision by the Office of Management and Budget to change from single-race reporting to a format that permits respondents to choose more than one race, to the October 2007 issuance of final guidance from the Department of Education. Taking a K-20 perspective, I consider how policies for data collection and reporting may affect educational and developmental outcomes for students, as well as local, state, and national education policy environments.

Read or purchase the article here.

The Relationship Between Multiracial Identity Variance, Social Connectedness, Facilitative Support, and Adjustment in Multiracial College Students

University of Oregon
June 2008
151 pages

James Lyda

A Dissertation presented to the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Research has suggested that multiracial individuals may vary in how they racially identify depending on the context in which they operate (Renn, 2004; Root, 1998, 2003).  To examine this assertion, multiracial identity and variance in multiracial identity were examined in this exploratory study of a nationally representative sample of 199 multiracial college students.  Additionally, the relationship of multiracial identity variance with factors common to adult transitional development and to the college student experience, including social connectedness, various forms of facilitative support, college adjustment, and depression, were also examined in this study.  Sex differences among these study variables were also explored.

The results of descriptive analyses revealed that this generally connected, adjusted, and non-depressed sample consistently varied their racial identity depending on their context.  Results of Pearson product-moment correlations among study variables for the whole sample demonstrated that this multiracial identity variance was not related to adjustment, social connectedness, facilitative supports, or depression. But results differed when breaking down the sample by sex. For males, increased variance in multiracial identity across contexts was related to lower perceived availability of, support from, and connectedness to student support groups. For females, increased multiracial identity variance was related to lower participation in ethnic and cultural student support groups.  A series of subsequent simultaneous multiple regression analyses revealed that increased involvement in one form of facilitative support in the college environmentethnic/cultural student support groups- actually predicted lower multiracial identity variance for the sample.

Regarding connectedness, for the entire sample, higher social connectedness was related to higher college adjustment but lower participation in ethnic and cultural student support groups.  Sex differences also emerged for connectedness. For males, social connectedness was directly related to availability of student groups, adjustment, and institutional attachment, and for females social connectedness was directly related to college adjustment, but inversely related to participation in ethnic/cultural groups.

Table of Contents

I. RATIONALE
Historical, Political, and Social Implications of Mixed Race Identity
Racial and Ethnic Identity
Multiracial Identity Models
Monoracial Identity Development Models
Biracial and Multiethnic Identity Development Models
Ecological Models of Multiracial Identity Development
Wardel and Cruz-jansen’s Model
Root’s Model
Multiracial Identity Variance
Social Connectedness
Social Connectedness and Multiracial Identity: Influence of Sex
Facilitative Support
College Adjustment
Depression
Purpose of This Study
Research Questions

II. METHODOLOGY
Participants
Measures
Demographics
Multiracial Identity Variance
Social Connectedness
Facilitative Supports
College Adjustment
Chapter
Depression
Procedures
Pmticipant Recruitment
Data Collection
Sample Size

III. RESULTS
Overview
Preliminary Analyses
Descriptive Analyses
Multiracial Identity Variance
Sex Differences
Social Connectedness
Sex Differences
Perceptions of Facilitative Student Supports
Sex Differences
College Adjustment
Sex Differences
Depression
Sex Differences
Correlation Analyses
Multiracial Identity Variance
Social Connectedness
Facilitative Supports
College Adjustment
Depression
Regression Analyses
Explaining Multiracial Identity Variance.
Explaining Social Connectedness.
Explaining Depression
Summary of Results

IV. DISCUSSION
Main Findings: Relationship Among Variables
Demographics
Multiracial Identity Variance
Social Connectedness
Facilitative Supports
College Adjustment
Depression
Sex Differences
Implications of the Findings
Study Limitations
Future Research and Intervention
Conclusion

APPENDICES
A. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
B. INFORMED CONSENT STATEMENT
C. MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS
REFERENCES

….Overall the sample was racially diverse, predominantly female, and came from highly educated parents.  The sample was racially diverse in the sense that multiple combinations of multiracial heritage were represented.  This is important in validating the sample as a cross section of the multiracial population, which distinguishes the current study from previous multiracial identity research that has focused specifically on a limited representation of specific bi- or multiracial sub-groups, such as black/white biracial individuals (Shih & Sanchez, 2005; Wardle & Cruz-Jansen, 2004). The sample tended to consist of participants with highly educated parents and as a result were likely to be of higher socioeconomic status. It is unknown if the general socioeconomic status of the sample is representative of the multiracial college student population as a whole.  Also, women outnumbered men three to one. These factors are important when considering the generalizabiity of these results…

Read the entire dissertation here.