Discoveries in Education Spotlight: Crystal Hutchinson

Research Rooted in Lived Experience

For Crystal Hutchinson, research is more than an academic pursuit—it is personal. A current Ed.D. candidate in Educational Leadership at Rowan (Class of 2027), Crystal is developing scholarship that centers multiracial identity in education and challenges monoracial narratives that dominate schools and society.

Growing up biracial, with a White mother and Black father, Crystal often grappled with questions of belonging and identity without a clear framework to make sense of her experiences. Those early questions now fuel her doctoral work and commitment to creating more inclusive educational environments.

Introducing the Multiracial Identity Assertion Framework

As a researcher in the Critical Consciousness and Transformational Learning Lab, Crystal developed the Multiracial Identity Assertion Framework. In simple terms, the framework helps explain how and why multiracial individuals may claim different racial identities throughout their lives.

Rather than viewing identity as fixed, the framework recognizes that identity evolves across the lifespan and is shaped by family, schools, community, and broader systems of power. By bringing together established identity models under a critical lens, Crystal’s work provides a clearer understanding of how multiracial people experience, interpret, and assert who they are.

Her current pilot study with adults will inform her dissertation research, which will focus on how biracial and multiracial children form their identities in educational settings.

Why It Matters in Schools

The population of multiracial students continues to grow, yet many school systems still operate within simplified racial categories. Crystal’s framework offers educators, counselors, and parents a tool to better understand how multiracial students navigate identity—and how schools can create stronger environments of belonging.

By recognizing that identity can shift across contexts and over time, educators can design more culturally responsive curriculum, avoid forcing rigid categories, and create spaces where students feel seen in their full complexity.

Expanding the Conversation

Crystal will present her framework at the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association biennial conference at University of California Los Angeles. There, she hopes to receive feedback from leading scholars and spark interest in further research and application of the framework.

Through scholarship grounded in lived experience, Crystal Hutchinson is contributing to a growing national conversation about race, identity, and belonging—ensuring that educational leadership evolves alongside the students it serves.