Mixed Race Students in College
This is a book I would highly recommend to all Student development professionals especially those who work with student services, and especially those interested in the campus climate of their institutions as it relates to race.
The first thing I appreciate about this piece of work is the fact that it is based on “normal” mixed race students. What I mean by “normal” are students that are not in treatment for some issue already. This is a trend in research that has been taking place in the last decade or so as people of mixed heritage grow up and begin producing and reacting to research. While Renn herself is not of mixed heritage (as she states in the book) she really understands that while mixed-race students may have a different experience of race and ethnicity and all the issues associated with them, they are not inherently flawed or doomed individuals like research of yore used to suggest.
From a student development point of view I found her use of the ecology model very effective. First it highlights the situational nature of the mixed experience. Looking at how a students environments influence the way he or she identifies to others is something that I think has not been researched very deeply in the past. Another reason I liked the use of the ecology model on this group of students is that it focuses on the interaction between the student and their environment which allows for the student to also have an impact on the environment as well. Having that piece of the puzzle to look at allows us as researchers and administrators to have a better understanding of how to possibly design our environments such that these students could also have an educational impact on their peers. The ecology model also highlights the need for school administrators to really consider how their actions on various levels affect a students experiences and opportunities for self exploration and growth. How do policies at the highest levels trickle down and impact the students immediate environment?
The number of subjects used, while still relatively small, is the largest of any of the research I have read. I would have liked to have seen more students whose parents were both non-white, but over all I felt that the group had a pretty good diversity of mixed heritage types.
I highly recommend this study for several reasons. 1. Students are seen as normal, and their experience of ethnicity and race and seeking of identity is not seen as problematic. 2. The idea that students can experience race and ethnicity in different ways, and then identify situational (and that that process is different for every student) is accepted and seen not as problematic, but as a “normal” way of navigating these waters. 3. The students used for this study were not just Black/White mixed. In the past there has been a tendency to focus solely on this group.
I would love to find out if there is any research pertaining to the difference in experience (if any) between students with one white parent and students with two non-white parents. I would also love to find out if there is more research on any differences between how students with two American born and students with one or both parents who were born abroad.
Posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 in the following categories: Kristen Renn
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We have international students. So please forward book info. to the following address:
The Arlington House Youth Hostel
July 24th, 2007 at 4:50 am616 Arlington Pl.
Chicago, IL 60614