Racial Identity Change Among White Graduate Students

Abstract

This qualitative research study explored racial identity change among a group of White graduate students who took a multicultural course required for a master’s degree in counseling and psychology. Using weekly journal entries and reflection papers as data, the researcher tracked each student’s racial identity development from the beginning to the end of the course. The results showed that students developed more nonracist identities toward the end of the course. Their racial identities followed the trajectory described by Helms (1994) in her White Racial Identity (WRID) model. This study provides evidence that thoughtful classroom instruction can help students unlearn racial attitudes and replace them with more culturally inclusive beliefs.