Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Racism is a pervasive and destructive force in society and has no place in schools. White teachers, like all teachers, are responsible for creating a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. This means being aware and actively working to combat their own biases and stereotypes, providing equal opportunities and support to all students. This instrumental, qualitative study captured the narratives of five White-identifying critically conscious teachers to understand how their critical consciousness is expressed and the opportunities and challenges they experience because of their anti-racism work. The central research question of this study was: How do critically conscious White teachers in a Southern Indiana school district experiencing demographic shifts engage in anti-racism work? Janet Helms’s White Racial Identity Development (WRID) theory was used to explain the teachers’ work towards anti-racism in schools. The findings from this study indicated that White identifying critically conscious teachers White teachers: a) leverage their privilege to promote anti-racism, b) use culturally relevant practices, c) engage in co-conspirator work, d) actively collaborate with BIPOC students and teachers, e) are instrumental in supporting anti-racism efforts, f) are content with making a positive impact on students and society, g) perceive and experience negative professional consequences as a result of their anti-racism work. This study has important implications for teachers, school administrators, and education system stakeholders.

Thesis advisor: Janet E. Helms / Supervision may be an ideal format for training psychologists to be racially and culturally responsive because supervisors can tailor interventions to fit supervisees’ individual developmental needs. Nevertheless, over 30 years ago, counseling psychology researchers began identifying harmful effects of racially and culturally unresponsive supervision from the perspectives of supervisees. Missing from the literature has been empirical evidence from the perspectives of supervisors themselves. Moreover, research has failed to explore the influence of context (i.e., mental health sites) on supervision that addresses race and culture. The present study explored supervisors’ perspectives and experiences as they pertained to (a) providing racially and culturally responsive supervision, (b) the racial climate of their mental health work environments, and (c) influences of their institutional racial climates on their supervision practices as they pertained to race and culture. Interviews with psychologists, who identified as Black (n = 4) and White (n = 4), were analyzed using directed content analysis guided by the Racial Identity Social Interaction Model. Core domains and themes from the analysis drew connections between the supervisors’ perceptions of the racial climate of their institution and the challenges of supervising on race and culture. Findings from the study highlight the ways in which supervisors in mental health settings attempt to protect their supervisees in environments in which they often feel unprotected. Limitations and implications of the study for supervision theory, research, and practice are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Andrew Miller / Many White educators are not aware of their White privilege, and therefore they need support in developing their White racial identity and racial awareness so that they can identify problems associated with racism and participate in conversations about race and racism with an eye towards dismantling systemic racism. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews with educational leaders, document review, and focus groups with educators in order to discover how, if at all, school leaders support their White teachers in developing an anti-racist White racial identity. Finding suggested that despite professional development initiatives dedicated to racial identity development, there was a noted lack of formal opportunities designed specifically for White racial identity development and instead the schools relied on pockets of informal White racial identity development among White colleagues. The data revealed some insights as to why racial identity work specific to White people is not happening: (a) White educators think they already know this information, (b) White educators have a desire to focus on teaching content, (c) White educators shield themselves, and (d) White educators believe that the timing is not ideal for anti-racist work. One recommendation to support White staff in the development of their White racial identity could be for educational leaders in districts like this to introduce the staff to the scholarship about Whiteness, so White educators can use this new information about Whiteness to promote personal reflective practices about what it means to be White and progress to conversations with colleagues about what it means to be White and how their Whiteness impacts their daily lives and the daily lives of their students and colleagues. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Candyce S. Russell / There has been a rapid growth of heterosexual Black and White interracial couples in the United States in recent decades and numbers continue to increase. In addition, the concept of racial identity within Southern heterosexual Black and White interracial couples has not been explored. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how racial identity affects the dynamics of Black and White interracial relationships within the context of their extended family and community and the effect of interracial relationships on racial identity development. The focus of the study was to explore how partners in heterosexual Black and White interracial couples living in the South constructed and/or defined their individual racial identity, how the couple addressed cultural difference within the relationship, and how the couple handled opposition toward their relationship. Three theoretical/philosophical frameworks were used in this study. Phenomenology and social constructionism were utilized to provide a framework for the methodology of the study; Black racial identity theory (Cross, 1971, 1991) and White racial identity theory (Helms, 1990) were utilized to provide a framework for thinking about racial identity development. The sample consisted of four couples, each with children. Each couple was interviewed conjointly in a neutral setting and then allowed the researcher to accompany them on an outing in a public setting. This experience allowed the researcher to observe how the couple was received in public and how the couple managed public response. Interviews provided rich descriptions of how the research participants experienced themselves as individuals and as a couple in their marriage with respect to racial identity. Through case study analysis, six main themes and 22 sub-themes were identified. The main themes included: marital dynamics, racial identity, influences, reactions, advice, and counseling. Cross-case analysis revealed a small number of subthemes shared across cases. Differences between cases were considerable and were presented via the identification of new subthemes and unique cases. Three new subthemes were identified: normal couple, gaining acceptance, and religious affiliation. Recommendations are offered for future research and, tentatively, for marriage and family therapists who may work with couples similar to those in this study. Most notably, couples in this study saw themselves as “normal couples” brought together by love, and did not necessarily think of themselves as “interracial.” They did, however, talk as a couple about how to racially identify their children and how to help them respond to questions about their racial heritage.

This study explored the racial identity development of White corporate trainers who deliver training in racially diverse organizations. The purpose of this study was to acquire an understanding about the various factors that affect the racial identity development of White trainers as well as to distinguish ways in which racially diverse organizations support the creation of culturally responsive training. The study sought to identify aspects that affect White trainers’ identity and the role of the organizations in defining, or impacting, competencies related to culturally responsive training. A basic qualitative design guided the study and data was collected through two face-to-face interviews and a written reflection in response to their own completed interview transcripts. The participants included six White females and one male and were employed in organizations in the areas of oil and gas, real estate, retail, and consulting. The participants were identified by their connection to Texas A&M University students and faculty, the Academy of Human Resource Development, or the American Society for Training and Development. The findings of the study indicated that White corporate trainers develop their racial identity through a variety of experiences in their personal and professional environments. The White trainers’ perceptions of racial identity were impacted through environmental influences and their construction of Whiteness. Their racial consciousness was further developed through their work within racially diverse organizations and cultural diversity within the training environment exposed the trainers to their weaknesses and areas for growth. The process of becoming more culturally responsive trainers was a constant evolution that took place through self-reflection and the acknowledgment of race as an important component related to identity and their work.

This qualitative study examined how the racial identity of Black/White biracial college students shaped their college choice process, and the extent to which these students explored their racial identity at the University of Arizona. Sixteen self-identified Black/White biracial students were interviewed to learn what factors they considered during their college choice process. Additionally, these students were interviewed to understand how the context of this particular institution facilitated or hindered their racial identity exploration. This study found that Black/White biracial students approached their college choice process from a color-blind orientation which had unintended consequences on how these students explored and understood their racial identity in the context of a PWI. The predominantly White precollege contexts these students came from decentralized their racial identity early on; however, on campus Black/White biracial students were continuously confronted with messages that placed an emphasis on race. Implications for student services and for addressing the needs of Black/White biracial students are presented.

The aim of this study was to contribute to the limited literature on Mixed-Race identity development in the post-apartheid context while providing a personal, evocative, and critical exploration of Mixed-Race identity. The objectives were to use self-reflection as a tool to think critically about how close relationships and other systemic factors (such as friendships, school environment and broader societal factors) that contributed to my Mixed-Race identity development, played a significant role. The autoethnographic methodology was used to harness the quality of evocative and personal writing in the process of knowledge creation and establishing a voice for the Mixed-Race experience through the narration of my personal experiences. Autoethnography is a methodology that situates the researcher as the ‘data’ by using first-person accounts of their experiences to analyse and discuss particular social and cultural phenomena. Root’s ecological model for multiracial identity development was used as a framework to explore and analyse how systemic factors influenced and shaped my Mixed-Race identity development. Additionally, Worthman’s bio-ecocultural model was used to explore the influence of my bond with my parents on my racial identity formation in childhood. Data collection involved me engaging in a reflexive journaling process. Thematic analysis was used to develop themes from my reflexive journal. Three main themes were found, namely my bond with my parents and their socialisation practices, my experience of being ‘the other’ and an outsider in social settings, and my close friendships. While I discuss the themes separately, there was considerable overlap between the themes and the factors involved in the discussion which suggests a complex relationship between multiple systemic factors (i.e. gender, skin tone, familial relationships, and social settings) that influenced my racial identity development. In conclusion, my racial identity development was (and still is) a lifelong process of self-discovery as I continue to be confronted with my dual-racial heritage in a predominantly monoracial South Africa. Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the limitations and potential recommendations for future research has also been discussed. / Mini Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))-- University of Pretoria, 2021. / Psychology / MA (Clinical Psychology) / Unrestricted

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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / Rudabeh Nazarinia-Roy / Racial identity of mixed race individuals is important to understand because of the growing proportion of the population with parents from different racial groups. Having more than one racial heritage has a direct impact on how these children are seen by others as well as how they understand and encounter the world around them. Parents socialize their children in matters of race and discrimination that can impact their racial identity development, which is a component of their overall identity development. The aim of this study was explore how multiracial children are socialized and the impact of that socialization on racial identity formation from a heuristic perspective. Heuristic inquiry is a facet of phenomenology that seeks to understand the researcher’s experience of the phenomenon; therefore, I provided data on my experiences with raising a mixed-race child in a monoracial family. Two other families experiencing the same phenomenon were also interviewed. Themes related to racial profiling, parental perception of the mixed race child’s personality, skin tone, level of respect, and parenting were identified through the five-step analysis process recommended by Moustakas for heuristic inquiry, including immersion, incubation, illumination, explication, and creative synthesis. This study highlights relevant aspects in the lives of mixed-race children, how that impacts the way society views mixed-race individuals, and how those individuals encounter the world around them.