What We've Learned
The CMERI Project is an active research project and we are generating knowledge daily as we gather, analyze, and synthesize new information. Our findings thus far are documented here along with our other related work on multiracial identity development. Keep a close eye on this page as we will continue to add information as our knowledge grows!
This website is not only a way for us to connect with multiracial people we would like to work with but it also serves as a platform for us to share our findings with the world. Below you will find our descriptions of the latest insights gleamed from the CMERI Project and beyond. We also record all of the outreach efforts we have done with the goal of sharing our findings far and wide with those who are most implicated: multiracial people!
Explore our Knowledge Base by Clicking the Headings Below!
CMERI Findings
The CMERI project is still in it's launch phase. As we work through our recently collected data we will be sure to add our findings here. We also look forward to presenting our emerging results at academic conferences and through outreach to multiracial organizations nationwide. Read below to learn more about other related projects we have been working on and where we have shared those results.
Related Projects on Multiraciality
Our primary Investigator, Victoria Vezaldenos, studies multiracial ethnic-racial Identity development broadly and thus has produced academic work outside of the CMERI Project that addressses parallel Issues. As a mixed-methods scholar Victoria has used both qualitative and quantitative methods to learn more about how multiracial youth and families think about race, racial Identity, and racism. The following brief descriptions outline some of her recent work.
Raising Antiracist Disruptors
Very little research to date explores how parents socialize their children towards antiracism. Drawing from ten interviews with monoracial parents of multiracial children, Victoria illuminates how parents in interracial relationships instill an antiracist orientation in their children. Victoria and colleagues found that although all parents care about the well-being and identity development of their multiracial children, parents differ in their ability and willingness to instill an antiracist orientation in their children. Specifically, parents in our sample exhibited five approaches to multiracial socialization, ranging from those that reinforced dominant racial ideologies to those that explicitly aimed to prepare youth to become antiracist activists. We also describe how monoracial parents’ lived experiences inform how they talk to their children about race and racism. Our findings illuminate how monoracial parents may engage in a repertoire of strategies in order to foster antiracism in multiracial children, molding the next generation of “antiracist disruptors.”
Predictors of Biracial Ethnic-Racial Identity Development
There is a paucity of literature analyzing ethnic-racial identity exploration (i.e., seeking to understand its meaning in one’s life) and salience (i.e., one’s sense of its situational significance) for multiracial people; meanwhile, similar work examining these processes in monoracial people has continued to flourish. ). In the current study, Victoria explores contextual factors that may inform ethnic-racial identity salience across different groups of biracial youth (e.g., biracial Black, biracial Latinx). Rather than treating biracial youth as a monolithic category, Victoria and colleagues disaggregate a sample of biracial adolescents into subgroups by ethnic-racial self-identification to reveal potential within group variations. Knowledge of how ethnic-racial identity development differs among multiracial youth according to specific racial group membership can be leveraged to create environments and interventions that allow multiracial adolescents to fully explore their ethnic-racial identities, thus improving their psychological adjustment and quality of life. This manuscript is currently under review.
Emerging Lines of Inquiry
Typically people think that racial identity is stable such that it cannot and will not change overtime. However, this is not true for multiracial people as they might change how they racially identify as they encounter critical moments that prompt them to think deeply about their identity. In this study Victoria is exploring the changes students are making when reporting their racial identity and uncovering what might explain these changes.
Academic Publications
Published
Vezaldenos, V. A., Jacobs, L-A., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2023). Raising “Antiracist Disruptors”: Illuminating Socialization Practices that Support Antiracism in Multiracial Households. Race and Social Problems. Raising "Antiracist Disruptors"
Pinedo, A., Frisby, M., Kubi, G., Vezaldenos, V. A., Diemer, M. A., McAlister, S., and Harris, E. Charting the Longitudinal Development and Interplay of Critical Consciousness among Youth Activists. Child Development. Critical Consciousness among Youth Activists
Vezaldenos, V. A. (2023). A Quantitative Analysis of College Access for Multiracial Students. Proceedings 6th Biannual Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference. Critical Mixed Race Studies
Under Review
Vezaldenos, V. A., Pinetta, B., Rivas-Drake, D., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Villalta, S. I., and Schaefer, D. Predictors of Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Choice
Schaefer, D., Villalta, S. I., Vezaldenos, V. A., Umaña-Taylor, A. J. Some Birds Have Mixed Feathers: Network Selection and Influence on the Racial Identification Choices of Multiracial Adolescents
Academic Conferences
Society for Research on Adolescence 2024 Biennial Meeting
April 2024
Symposium on Diverse Perspectives on Ethnic-Racial Identity Development for Multiracial Adolescents: Predicting Longitudinal Changes to Self-Selected Ethnic-Racial Identity for Multiracial Adolescents
Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2024 Annual Convention
February 2024
Poster Session: Phenotype as a Predictor of Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Salience
Society for Research on Adolescence 2022 Biennial Meeting
April 2023
Poster Session: Antiracist Socialization Practices within Multiracial Households
Latinx Research Week at the University of Michigan
April 2022
Latinx Interdisciplinary Poster Session: The Influence of Peer Relationships on Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Selection
Society for Research on Adolescence 2022 Biennial Meeting
March 2022
Adolescence in the Context of Domestic and Global Diversity Poster Session: The Influence of Friendships on Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Saliency
Critical Mixed-Race Studies Conference 2022
February 2022
Lightning Presentation: Quantitative Methodological Considerations: The Use of Logistic Regression in Examining Multiracial Identity
Society for Community Research and Action Biennial Conference
June 2021
Ignite Presentation: Utilizing Participatory Action Research to Assess Multiracial Student Belonging at Primarily White Institutions
Invited Talks
Combined Program in Education and Psychology Department Brownbag
February 2024
Predictors of Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Salience.
Combined Program in Education and Psychology Department Brownbag
February 2023
Raising “Antiracist Disruptors”: Illuminating Socialization Practices that Support Antiracism in Multiracial Households.
Rackham Merit Fellows Featured Research in Progress
January 2023
Predicting Changes to Self-Selected Ethnic-Racial Identity Over Time
Presentations
UROP Symposium at the University of Michigan
April 2024
The UROP Annual Research Symposium allows students to present their research and learn about the research of their fellow UROP students while celebrating the partnerships created between students and research mentors.
Latinx Research Week at the University of Michigan
March 2024
Latinx Interdisciplinary Poster Session: Phenotype as a Predictor of Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Salience
Latinx Research Week at the University of Michigan
March 2023
Latinx Interdisciplinary Poster Session: Antiracist Socialization Practices within Multiracial Households
Outreach
We want to share our research with the people who it affects most: multiracial people! As a research team, we make concerted efforts to foster connections with multiracial groups and organizations from across the United States and share with them how multiracial identity is represented in academic research. We believe that our work is not worth doing unless the information is returned to the communities we wish to serve. Below is a list of the various groups we have worked with so far to share our findings.
Invited Talks
Asian-ish Club at Yale
April 2024
Mixed Student Union at the University of California, Davis February 2024
Mixed Student Union at the University of California, Los Angeles
February 2023
Mixed@Michigan, Multiracial Student Organization at the University of Michigan
February 2023
Mixed Student Union at the University of California, Davis
February 2023
Mixed Student Union at the University of California, San Diego
January 2023
Mixed Student Union at the University of Washington
November 2022
Boston University Mixed Student Union
November 2022
Berkeley High School Multicultural Student Association
October 2022
If you or your organization is interested in working with us, send us an email at cmeri.team@umich.edu