Research
Dr. Onyewuenyi’s scholarly work sits at the dynamic intersection of Education, Human Development, Psychology, and Sociology. As a dedicated researcher, she has made significant contributions to the academic discourse through her publications in leading peer-reviewed journals, including School Psychology Review, Journal of American College Health, The Urban Review, and the International Journal of Behavioral Development. Her interdisciplinary approach reflects a deep commitment to advancing understanding across the social and behavioral sciences. For a detailed overview of her publications please click here to view her curriculum vitae (CV).
Key Research Areas
Dr. Onyewuenyi’s research is anchored in four core areas that collectively aim to improve educational and developmental outcomes for historically marginalized communities, which are:
Education
Psychology
Human Development
Quantitative Ethnography
Education
Dr. Onyewuenyi’s academic journey spans over 20 years, beginning as an Assistant Professor and now serving as an Associate Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of African American Studies at The College of New Jersey. With a B.S. in Human Development and minors in Psychology, Sociology, and Education, alongside both a Master’s and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Learning Sciences, and Human Development, she has developed deep expertise in education. Dr. Onyewuenyi has published key studies in this area, including “Teaching Black Immigrants in Urban Schools: Teacher and Peer Relationships and Academic Performance” and “Navigating Multiple Worlds of Ghanaian-born Immigrant Adolescent Girls in U.S. Urban Schools.” These studies shed light on the complexities of identity, belonging, and resilience among marginalized youth in educational settings. These studies dive into the complex interplay between identity, social norms, and peer influence, offering valuable insights into adolescent behavior and academic success.
Psychology
Within her psychology research, Dr. Onyewuenyi examines how youth navigate racial bias and the ways in which they use their cultural identities to thrive academically and mentally. Her work explores the impact of cultural and peer influences on conflict resolution, reciprocity, and reconciliation. In particular, she focuses on the protective roles of ethnic-racial identity, cultural pride, and community support systems in buffering the negative effects of bias and marginalization. Through both empirical research and applied practice, she emphasizes the importance of culturally responsive educational practices, social-emotional learning interventions, and trauma-informed support services. Dr. Onyewuenyi’s published work in psychology includes the impactful studies “Honor, Face, and Dignity Norm Endorsement Among Diverse North American Adolescents: Development of a Social Norms Survey” and “Gratitude for Bystander Action Varies by Peer Intervention and Social Norms.”
Human Development
For Dr. Onyewuenyi, human development is about understanding the profound changes and growth that shape individuals from childhood into adulthood. Her research in this area dives into how adolescents and emerging adults navigate this critical period, particularly through the lenses of identity, social norms, and peer relationships. In her studies, Dr. Onyewuenyi explores how cultural values and social expectations influence psychological development, focusing on how young people manage conflict and make moral decisions. Her work, including study “I Felt Like a Hero: Adolescents’ Understanding of Resolution-Promoting and Vengeful Actions on Behalf of Their Peers,” published in Sage Publications and Springer US, sheds light on how these developmental processes play out in real-world social dynamics and the way young people navigate complex emotional and social challenges.
Quantitative Ethnography
As a methodologist, I have another line of research focused on scaling the access and use of Quantitative Ethnography (QE) by critical scholars, especially those in education and psychology. Quantitative Ethnography is a methodology and set of analytical tools that unifies qualitative and quantitative analyses with computational models, creating statistically analyzable visualizations of code patterns (Shaffer, 2017). These models produce contextually valid interpretations of data that capture the complexity and richness of human experiences while bridging disciplinary and methodological boundaries. Through analytical tools like nCoder, which automates the coding process, and Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA), which creates 2-D representations of the relationships between codes, QE provides a robust framework for humanizing data through visual storytelling. More importantly, QE is a transformative methodological approach that has the power to (a) enhance and elevate research conducted by critical scholars and (b) re-center and amplify the lived experiences of marginalized communities.