Kraemer, Maura R. (Forthcoming 2026). “Undergraduate Students’ (Alternative) Epistemes of Racial Knowledge within Digital University Whitespaces.” In Brunsma, David, Joong Won Kim, Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown, and Elizabeth Roberts (Eds.) Whitespaces. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Abstract: Institutions of higher education, such as universities, are widely recognized as legitimate sites for the creation and dissemination of knowledge because of their capacity to define areas of expertise and provide the credentials to those possessing this expertise. As White institutional spaces, universities also possess the power to construct and define systems or epistemologies of racial knowledge – shaping understandings of what “race” is, whether racial inequality persists, and to what extent. This occurs through institutional mechanisms and organizational practices, all of which reinforce racial ideologies that center and privilege Whiteness. This book chapter explores how 42 second-year university students draw upon multiple, overlapping epistemes of racial knowledge to interpret and make sense of shared racialized experiences on campus. The analysis focuses on two select cases where students’ racial identities became salient via the anonymous social media platform Fizz, which requires users to verify their university affiliation to access localized content. The first case examines the epistemological consequences of White institutional mechanisms with an example of cultural appropriation surrounding White female students wearing cornrows. The second case illustrates resistance to these mechanisms, focusing on a racial microaggression campaign that discredits students of color’s credentials and right to belong on campus.

Kraemer, M. R. (2025). “The Racialized Field of Education: Students’ Racialized Cultural Capital and the Meaning-Making of Race in Schools.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 0(0): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/23326492251346427

Abstract: Using field theory as an analytical tool, this study explores how students’ engagement in racialized cultural capital-generating activities via parental racial socialization (PRSOC) operates in schools. I use data from the Maryland Adolescent Development In Context Study to: 1) focus on the ways Black and White students are engaged in different PRSOC pathways; 2) investigate the relationship between these pathways, academic outcomes, and educational experiences; and 3) explore the extent to which there is variation in content and purpose of Black and White PRSOC. Significant differences in PRSOC surface, whereby Black students, on average, report engaging in significantly higher amounts and more varied racialized cultural capital-generating activities than White students. Findings also suggest a significant positive relationship between Black students’ PRSOC and academic outcomes, and to a lesser extent a negative relationship with educational experiences. Further, while there is no relationship between White students’ PRSOC, academic outcomes, and educational experiences, there is a significant positive relationship between White racial pride and White students’ educational experiences, suggesting that White students’ probability of liking school is related to their racial pride. These differences may have repercussions on students’ educational experiences as racialized cultural capital-generating activities of Black PRSOC largely serve to protect students from racism, while those of White PRSOC ultimately maintain the racialized field of education.

Kraemer, M. R. (2025). “Race, Parents, and Schools: Understanding how Parental Racial Socialization Operates within Schools as Racialized Organizations.” Social Science Research 127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2024.103137

Abstract: This study brings together scholarship on racial socialization and racialized organizations to explore how parental racial socialization operates in schools. Using student-level data from the Maryland Adolescent Development In Context Study and school-level data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection, I investigate the extent to which engagement in parental racial socialization affects the academic outcomes and educational experiences of Black and White high school students. I find parental racial socialization has positive impacts on students’ GPAs for Black students and on students’ probability of liking school for both Black and White students. Additionally, I evaluate students’ perceptions of school organizational practices as racialized and find negative impacts on academic outcomes and educational experiences for all students. Finally, I find a significant interaction between parental racial socialization and perceived racialized organizational practices of schools, highlighting the moderating impact of parental racial socialization on Black students’ GPAs. Overall, findings suggest that academic outcomes and educational experiences are both a function of parental racial socialization and the perceived racialized organizational practices of schools. Moreover, within schools as racialized organizations, the variation in findings suggest parental racial socialization serves as an academic tool for Black students and a social tool for White students.

Marchand, A. D., Frisby, M.R., Kraemer, M. R., Mathews, C. J., Diemer, M. A., & Voight, A. M. (2021). “Sociopolitical participation among marginalized youth: Do political identification and ideology matter?” Journal of Youth Development 16(5): 41-63. https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2021.1089

Abstract: Engaging youth in the political system has promise for creating social change and ensuring the future of our democracy. Sociopolitical participation—individual and/or collective action to facilitate change—may be biased towards more liberal or Democratic views, which emphasize reform to create social equity. The aim of this study is to test if youth who vary in political ideology (i.e., conservative, liberal) and political identification (i.e., Republican, Democrat) participate at different levels and whether this measurement of sociopolitical participation is in fact biased. These issues were examined among 237 youth attending a large Midwestern high school who generally identified with historically marginalized groups. Results suggest that youth identifying as Republican exhibited slightly higher levels of participation, and that items were not biased by political ideology or identification. Further, political ideology and identification explained less than 5% of the variance in sociopolitical action, suggesting it is largely independent of political leaning.

Kraemer, Maura R. 2025. “The Convergence of Colorblind Racism and Genetic Essentialism: University Students’ Racial Attitudes and Race Concepts During the Sociopolitical Context of 2016-2023.” (Under Review)

Carbonaro, W., Riegle-Crumb, C., & Kraemer, M. R. (2025, October). The Intersectional Effects of Race-Ethnicity and Family Background on Educational Outcomes. Paper Presented at Midwest Sociology of Education Annual Conference, Notre Dame, IN.

Kraemer, M. R. (2025, October). Undergraduate Students’ (Alternative) Epistemes of Racial Knowledge within Digital University Whitespaces. Paper Presented at Midwest Sociology of Education Annual Conference, Notre Dame, IN.

Kraemer, M. R. (2025, August). White University Spaces and the Production of Racial Knowledge vs. Experiencing Race as Knowledge Itself. Paper Presented at American Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2025, Race and Ethnic Minorities Roundtable, Chicago, IL.

Kraemer, M. R. (2025, February). The Racialized Field of Education: Students’ Racialized Cultural Capital and the Meaning-Making of Race in Schools. Paper Presented at the Sociology of Education Association Annual Conference 2025, Asilomar, CA.

Kraemer, M. R. (2024, November). First-Year Undergraduate Students' Understandings of Race at the Junction Between Family and School. Paper Presented at National Council for Family Relations Annual Conference 2024, Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families Section, Bellevue, WA.

Kraemer, M. R. (2024, October). Differences in Affirmative Action Attitudes among University Students. Paper Presented at Midwest Sociology of Education Annual Conference 2024, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

Kraemer, M. R. (2024, August). Student Racial Conceptualization: Tracing its Roots and Impacts as Students Navigate Elite White Institutional Spaces Presentation. Paper Presented at American Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2024, Children and Youth Roundtable, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Kraemer, M. R. (2023, August). The Racialized Field of Education and the Meaning-Making of Race within Schools. Paper Presented at American Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2023, Race and Education Roundtable, Philadelphia, PA.

Kraemer, M. R. (2023, April). Race, Parents, and Schools: Understanding how Parental Racial Socialization operates within Schools as Racialized Organizations. Paper Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting 2023, Chicago, IL.

Kraemer, M. R. (2022, October). Families and Schools: An inter-institutional approach to understanding how parental racial socialization operates in the classroom. Paper Presented at Midwest Sociology of Education Annual Conference 2022, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN.

Kraemer, M. R. (2022, February). Racial Pride as an Academic Support. Paper Presented at the Sociology of Education Association Annual Conference 2022 (virtual).