What We've Learned

The CMERI project is still in it's initial phases. As we work through our recently collected data we will be sure to add our to our findings here. As we have progressed in this work we have been excited to present our emerging results at academic conferences and through outreach to Multiracial organizations nationwide. Read below to learn more about the spaces we have been sharing our work.

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

Academic Conferences

Presentations

Related Projects on Multiraciality

Raising Antiracist Disruptors: How Parents of Multiracial Children Talk About Race at Home

Why do Biracial youth check certain boxes on demographic forms?

How do Multiracial people change their identification over time?

What role to peers, friends, and schools play on Multiracial ethnic-racial identity development during adolescence?

How can we challenge the monoracist racial order and work towards social justice?

Academic Publications

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.

Academic Conferences

American Psychological Association Division 45 Research Conference 2025 at Ann Arbor, MI

July 2025

Envisioning a Measure of Critical Multiracial Ethnic-Racial Identity

Annual Yale Bouchet Conference on Graduate Education 2025 at New Haven, CT

April 2025

Envisioning a Measure of Critical Multiracial Ethnic-Racial Identity

CMRS Conference at The Ohio State University

June 2024

Identity and Identification Dynamics: Envisioning a Measure of Critical Multiracial Ethnic Racial Identity

Presentations

UROP Symposium at the University of Michigan

April 2024

The UROP Research Symposium Poster Session: CMERI Project

Presented by Summer Xiong and KayLynn Young

Latine Research Week 2025

February 24th - 27th

Latinx Interdisciplinary Presentation Session: CMERI Project

Presented by Paige Boost and Christian Loza

Latine Research Week 2025

February 24th - 27th

Latinx Interdisciplinary Poster Session: CMERI Project

Presented by Brooklin Flaugher

CMRS Conference at The Ohio State University

June 14, 2024

Identity and Identification Dynamics: Envisioning a Measure of Critical Multiracial Ethnic Racial Identity

UROP Symposium at the University of Michigan

April 2024

The UROP Research Symposium Poster Session: CMERI Project

Presented by Brooklin Flaugher

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 addresses 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: How Parents of Multiracial Children Talk About Race at Home

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. They 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.”

Read the Full Text Here

Why do Biracial youth check certain boxes on demographic forms?

In this study Victoria and colleagues look at how Biracial high school students decide which racial category to identify with when faced with pressure to choose just one race. Victoria utilizes statistical analysis to see what factors influence these decisions, drawing on research about how Multiracial identities develop. Different statistical models explore how things like family discussions about race, physical appearance, friend groups, and experiences with discrimination affect these choices. Victoria and colleagues found that family influence, discrimination experiences, and skin color affect racial identity differently for each Biracial group (White, Asian, Black, Native American, and Latinx). However, students with more friends from a certain racial group tend to identify with that group. These results highlight the complex ways Biracial youth decide their racial identity in a society that often emphasizes a single-race viewpoint.

Read the Full Text Here

How do Multiracial people change their identification over time?

Typically people think that racial category choices- or the boxes one checks to indicate their racial background- are stable such that they cannot and will not change overtime. However, this is not true for Multiracial people as they might change how they self-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 on demographic forms and uncovering what might explain these changes.

What role to peers, friends, and schools play on Multiracial ethnic-racial identity development during adolescence?

Ethnic-racial identity development—the process by which Victoria and colleagues come to understand and explore our cultural group memberships—has been primarily studied within monoracial populations. In this chapter, they examine current and future research possibilities regarding Multiracial identity development during adolescence, as well as applied suggestions toward improving our understanding of this process. They began with a background of the literature examining ethnic-racial identity development processes, while distinguishing between what we understand for monoracial and/or Multiracial youth. Specific attention is then given to the influence of social contexts on Multiracial youth’s identity development, such as peer groups, friendships, and schools. Centering the need for further inquiry on Multiracial youth identity maturation, Victoria and colleagues identified remaining conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues that educators and scholars may expect to encounter as this work progresses.

How can we challenge the monoracist racial order and work towards social justice?

As motivated by the rapidly growing Multiracial demographic (Livingston, 2017; U.S. Census Bureau, 2023a) this article situates Critical Multiracial Theory (MultiCrit; Harris, 2016) in conversation with Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit; Garcia et al., 2018; Gillborn et al., 2018). Victoria argues that through the intentional inclusion of Multiracial participants within quantitative work, scholars can challenge the monoracist racial order in service of antiracist outcomes. The foundational tenets for MultiCRT are presented and woven within the QuantCrit tenets to produce a novel extension- Quant(Multi)Crit. The Quant(Multi)Crit framework serves to support critical quantitative scholars in conducting work that challenges (mono)racism in pursuit of social justice. Practical applications for Quant(Multi)Crit are offered to support future work across disciplines.

Academic Publications

Published

Vezaldenos, V. A., Rivas-Drake, D., Schaefer, D., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Villalta, S. I., & Pinetta, B., (2025) Predictors of Biracial Adolescent Racial Self-Categorization when Confronted with Monoracist Demographic Forms. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 35(1), e70012.

Vezaldenos, V.A.*, Rivas-Drake, D.*, Livas-Stein, G.*, Witherspoon, D., Jacobs, L-A., Spears-Brown, C., Yip, T., & Neblett, E. (2025) What Parents Want: Insights into Relevant Content and Formats for Resources to Address Issues of Race, Racism, and Immigration with Children. Applied Developmental Science.

Schaefer, D., Villalta, S., Vezaldenos, V., & Umaña-Taylor, A. (2024). Some Birds Have Mixed Feathers: Bringing the Multiracial Population into the Study of Race Homophily. Sociological Science, 11, 1046–1083.

Vezaldenos, V. A. (2023). A Quantitative Analysis of College Access for Multiracial Students. Proceedings 6th Biannual Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference.

Vezaldenos, V. A., Jacobs, L-A., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2023). Raising “Antiracist Disruptors”: Illuminating Socialization Practices that Support Antiracism in Multiracial Households.

Pinedo, A., Frisby, M., Kubi, G., Vezaldenos, V. A., Diemer, M. A., McAlister, S., and Harris, E. (2023). Charting the Longitudinal Development and Interplay of Critical Consciousness among Youth Activists.

Under Review

Vezaldenos, V. (revise and resubmit) Quant(Multi)Crit: Situating the Multiracial Experience within Quantitative Critical Race Theory. Critical Thinking Across Disciplines.

Medina, M., Vezaldenos, V., Rivas-Drake, D. (under review) Peer Groups, Friendships, and Schools: Contexts of Multiracial Identity Development. The Cambridge Handbook of Multiracial Youth and Families.

Academic Conferences

Society for Research on Child Development 2025 at Minneapolis, MN

May 2025

Conversation Roundtable: Anti-racism Knowledge for the Public: Opportunities and Challenges in Research-Practice-Partnerships for Dissemination Geared Toward Action. Panelist with Blaire Cox (NYU), Dr. Diane Hughes (NYU), Dr. Christina Rucinski (EmbraceRace), and Dr. Andrew Grant-Thomas (EmbraceRace).

Conference of Ford Fellows 2024 at Washington D.C.

June 2024

Poster Session: Phenotype as a Predictor of Biracial Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Salience

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

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.