Is You Woke? Examining the Impact of Schools on the Racial-Ethnic Identity Development of Black Multiracial Students

This study aims to discover if and how secondary schools are impacting the racial-ethnic identity development of students in the US. Students spend the majority of their time with their families growing, the latter having a major influence on how students see themselves and think about their identity. It is important to identify what role students view their schools supporting their racial-ethnic identity development as schools should be fostering personal development through both formal and hidden curriculum. An understanding of the schools' role in this context could be used to ensure bridging of cultural development between school and home. Data were collected through semi-structured in-person interviews with fifteen Stanford affiliates who self-identified with at least two distinct racial or ethnic groups, Black and another “non-white” Multiracial identifying individuals age eighteen to twenty-three. One participant identified as Black and White. Participants believed that their schools made little to no effort to support their racial-ethnic identity as there were very few teachers of color, no formalized classes such as Ethnic Studies, and peers either dismissed or inappropriately addressed issues of race and identity. It was also found that these Black Multiracial students were having these conversations in their homes with their parents mostly but were not continuing these conversations at school. Therefore, this study found that the messages students were receiving from school were more
academic focused as opposed to culturally and the role their schools played was more passive in terms of their racial-ethnic identity development.