Identity Development of College Students: Advancing Frameworks for Multiple Dimensions of Identity 1st Edition

Susan Jones and Elisa Abes are two remarkable researchers in the field of student development. This work is enough of a citation to prove that. Jones and Abes seek to bring together their groundbreaking work on the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (MMDI), the Reconceptualized MMDI (RMMDI), and their own thoughts and positions on the study of identity development. Jones and Abes have put together a great book, reading like beautiful literature of your favorite novel. In the first part of the book, the authors carefully explain and examine what brings them to the study of identity and the history of identity research. Their brevity on such an enormous topic is impeccable. In the second part, the authors bring together their entire research base on the study of multiple identities, starting with Jones's dissertation research on multiple identities culminating in the RMMDI in 2007. This includes more in-depth information previously limited due to journal article constraints. The third part of the book, my personal favorite, does one of the best things any good researcher does - they further their own understanding of their research by exploring different theoretical frameworks. In this case, Jones and Abes reconceptualize the model so that it reflects theoretical underpinnings of Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, and Queer Theory. They make these critical and poststructural theoretical frames into something easily accessible to a reader who maybe unfamiliar with the different frameworks. These models are some of the future research models of the field. I just feel it! Finally, they end the book with implications for practice. They also discuss using these frameworks in conjunction with one another to develop better theory, including other researchers to design their own models.Throughout the whole book, the authors provide thoughtful discussion questions for readers to process on their own or in a graduate classroom setting. This is sure to set a new standard of student development research in the field of student affairs. I highly recommend this to fellow graduate students, scholar-practitioners, and faculty members alike.

This was a well written book with plenty of diasgrams and explinations. I used it quite a bit for class, and will continue to use it as a reference.

Book is well written and organized. Offers current assessment of issues challenging undergraduates.

used this book to present my own model of multiple dimensions of identity at a state conference

I used this book to study for my comprehensive exams. It is well-written and relatively easy to understand. The student affairs practitioners I know love this book.

Needed this for Grad School. Received promptly and was exactly as described.

Love the book. It is for my class.

He is delighted with this book. He is going for his doctorate in higher education, and any "nerd" books are like brain food for him.