Identity Development of College Students: Advancing Frameworks for Multiple Dimensions of Identity by Susan R. Jones and Elisa S. Abes (review)

Educators have long been keenly interested in the identity development of college students. In their book, Identity Development in College, Susan R. Jones and Elisa S. Abes present a comprehensive and beautifully written overview of the evolution of identity development theory. Scholars generally agree that student development is made up of cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal dimensions. Baxter Magolda’s (2001, 2009) investigations of self-authorship support this view, and other authors, such as Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn (2010),have presented overviews of student development theories organized to fit this conceptualization. Jones and Abes contribute to this body of literature by focusing specifically on the intrapersonal dimension of development, defined as individuals’ sense of who they are and what they believe, and extending the current thinking to include critical perspectives not typically used when considering student development. As such, their book conveys important new ideas, introduces cutting-edge research, and demonstrates the value of critical analysis. I have no doubt that it will be one of the most important books on college student development to be published in this decade. It certainly is a “must have” publication for student affairs educators.

Following a preface by Marcia B. Baxter Magolda, Identity Development in College is organized into four sections of increasing complexity: Situating Identity, Multiple Identities and Models, Critical Theoretical Frameworks and Multiple Identities, and Educational Applications and Future Directions. Each section of the book includes both an overview of the content of the section and an interlude in which each of the authors shares her own story as it connects with the section’s content. Another unique aspect of the book is a list of discussion questions and/or exercises at the end of each chapter that can be used in classroom settings, for small group discussion, or for self-reflection.

Section 1 includes two chapters that focus on situating identity. In the first chapter, Jones and Abes center themselves in the work addressed in this book by discussing their own processes of identity development, including the values, worldviews, and experiences that have shaped who they are and the ways in which they approach their work as scholars and teachers. Written in the first person, this chapter provides an intimate view of each author’s thinking and the factors that motivate them. In chapter 2, Jones and Abes provide an overview of the evolution of the study of identity, grounding it within the broader student development scholarship while also examining its historical and disciplinary origins. As part of this discussion, they are careful to provide an explanation of the different conceptualizations of identity that grew out of the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and social psychology. They then provide an in-depth explanation of the foundational psychosocial identity development theories of Erik Erikson, James Marcia, and Arthur Chickering and Linda Reisser. They end the chapter with a discussion of the distinction between social identities and socially constructed identities, stressing the influence of power, privilege, and oppression and structures of inequality on the process of identity development—a discussion that sets the stage for material introduced in the following chapters.

Section 2 again begins with an interlude in which Jones and Abes reflect on their work with the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (MMDI). The original study served as Jones’s dissertation research while the Revised Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (RMMDI) grew out of Abes’s dissertation research, for which Jones served as the advisor. For both authors, then, the success of these models was both surprising and gratifying. Section 2 includes three chapters that introduce and explore the development and revision of the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (MMDI)—the conceptual foundation of the book. Chapter 3 begins with a discussion of the three bodies of knowledge that grounded the original study that led to the creation of...