Influences on Racial and Ethnic Identity of 1.5- and Second-Generation Nigerian High School Students

• In Event: Moving Toward Complexity: Examining Constructions of Diverse Identities Within African, Caribbean, and U.S. Academic Institutions

Abstract

Because of shared identifiable physical characteristics, researchers and educators have often implicitly assumed that African Immigrant and Black American high school students share similar interpersonal interactions with friends, peers, and teachers. Moreover, previous research has failed to examine how these interactions influence African Immigrant adolescent’s racial and ethnic identity expression. In response, this qualitative inquiry explored how one group of African Immigrants—Nigerians—make sense of their racial and ethnic identities and how interpersonal interactions at school may influence their identity expression. Data collection strategies included semi-structured interviews with 2 males and 2 female Nigerian high school students. I found that gender, setting, and person influenced the racial and ethnic identity expression of these Nigerian high school students.

Author

• Adaurennaya Chidinma Onyewuenyi, University of Washington