Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor

Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Ph.D. is a Professor of Adolescent Development in the Graduate School of Education. In her work, Dr. Umaña-Taylor seeks to apply developmental science in a manner that reduces disparities in psychological and academic adjustment and, in turn, promotes social justice. Her research is guided by socio-cultural ecological theories of development, developmental prevention science, and risk and resilience frameworks. She has collaborated with school districts and community organizations for over two decades to design and implement longitudinal, school- and community-based studies to better understand the experiences of adolescents and their families. Dr. Umaña-Taylor developed the Identity Project, a school-based curriculum that engages adolescents in the developmental process of ethnic-racial identity formation. Her recent studies test the efficacy and effectiveness of the Identity Project; explore strategies to better prepare educators to engage in conversations about race, ethnicity, and identity with students; examine the role of peer relationships in adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity development; and explore the universality of ethnic-racial-cultural identity as a developmental competency among adolescents in North America, Europe, and the Global South to support building a more global developmental science.