Research

Areas of Inquiry and Guiding Questions

I’m glad it’s people in higher places like yourself, Kristen, that are now interested in these types of things. You know, who really care what four Black dudes are going through on a daily basis” – Focus Group Participant

Academic Resilience

Academic resilience broadly refers to students’ ability to achieve or sustain good academic outcomes in the presence of risk(s) or adversity(ies). My research interrogates the following question: What factors or combination of factors influence academic resilience among college students?

See Mills et al. (2023), Stone-Sabali et al. (2023), Collins et al. (2023), Mills (2021), and Mills (2020)

Racial battle fatigue

Racial battle fatigue broadly refers to the cumulative impact of repeated racism-related stress among People of Color. My research interrogates the following question: How do Black students, specifically, experience and navigate racial battle fatigue?

See Mills et al. (2026), Mills et al. (2025), Mills et al. (2024) and Quaye et al. (2024)

Use of research evidence

Use of research evidence broadly refers to interested parties’ search for, evaluation, and implementation of evidence-based research. My research interrogated the following question: How do educators translate evidence-based research to adopt and implement programs and practices?

See Mills et al. (2020) and Neal et al. (201 9 )