Research on Biracial and Multiracial Identity Development: Overview and Synthesis

Racial identity development among college students with parents from different heritage groups was largely unexplored until the 1990s, when two forces—one demographic, the other theoretical—converged to stimulate interest in understanding the experiences and identities of biracial and multiracial youth. The increasing number of students from two or more races (Renn, 2004) drew the attention of student affairs professionals just as student development researchers moved into a period of close study of individual identity groups (for example, Black, Asian American, gay/lesbian/ bisexual). Although it might have occurred without this convergence, a body of research from the mid-1990s to the present has produced a solid foundation of theory to support student affairs practice regarding multiracial college students. In this chapter, I provide an overview and synthesis of this research; other chapters in this volume describe how student affairs professionals can use these theories. A decade ago, student development scholars who tried to describe the experiences of biracial and multiracial youth turned to two models (Poston, 1990; Root, 1990). In 2008, the literature has broadened substantially to include psychological, sociological, and ecological models for understanding the identities of mixed-heritage college students (for example, Kilson, 2001; Renn, 2004; Rockquemore and Brunsma, 2002; Wallace, 2001, 2003; Wijeyesinghe, 2001). A move away from linear models mirroring predominant minority identity development models (Atkinson, Morten, and Sue,