Faheemah N. Mustafaa

Dr. Faheemah N. Mustafaa joined the School of Education as an assistant professor (Learning and Mind Sciences) in 2019. She is also a member of the Human Development Graduate Group because of her background in psychology, focus on student experiences across their lifespans, and interests in children’s development across contexts (including school, community, and the home).

Dr. Mustafaa is driven by a passion for mentoring and supporting others’ life journeys. A former middle school science teacher, she greatly enjoys partnering with adolescents to imagine and pursue paths toward their highest potential. Beyond work, she finds joy in travel, nature, foodie-ism, and quality time with loved ones.

Prior to joining the School of Education faculty, Dr. Mustafaa  was a postdoctoral researcher in Social-Personality Psychology at University of California, Berkeley.  In that role, she worked with multiple school districts around the nation to conduct applied social-psychological research addressing racial disparities in K-12 students’ academic and behavioral outcomes. Before that, she conducted postdoctoral research in teaching and learning at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development, where she focused on understanding the career aspirations and experiences of doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars in STEM. 

Dr. Mustafaa earned her Ph.D. in the Combined Program in Education and M.A. in Higher Education, both  from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her interdisciplinary research primarily focuses on:

• Understanding and supporting the academic performance and holistic well-being of Black/African American youth and other youth with historically marginalized identities
• Studying the identity-related beliefs and pedagogies of K-12 and postsecondary educators

Currently, Dr. Mustafaa is Co-Principal Investigator and Lead Researcher on a $2.4 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study the experiences of Black girls and college women participating in a robotics and engineering leadership program. As PI, she leads a mixed-method study of Black adolescent girls’ well-being in over 8,000 California schools. This is funded by the American Institute for Research (AIR) as part of their COVID-19 and Equity in Education Initiative. Dr. Mustafaa is also writing about the attitudes and pedagogical beliefs of Black K-12 educators in the United States, as well as equity praxis in postsecondary teaching and learning.

Dr. Mustafaa is currently considering Ph.D. applicants and undergraduate research interns to join her lab. Interested students should email her with a resume/curriculum vitae and brief (three-to-five-sentence) statement of interest. Students should follow up after two weeks if a response is not received.

Education

Ph.D. Combined Program in Education and Psychology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

M.S. Psychology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

M.A. Higher and Postsecondary Education, Public Policy concentration
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

B.S. Biobehavioral Health, cum laude; Psychology minor
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Research Interests

• Teacher identity, beliefs, and perceptions
• Teacher-student relationships
• Race/ethnicity, gender, and schooling
• Quantitative and qualitative methods
• Evaluation and intervention research 
• Equity in K-12 and higher education

Publications

Refereed Publications

Mustafaa, F. N. (2023). Black Educators’ Racial Identity Attitudes and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Psychological Framework and Survey of Within-Race Diversity. American Educational Research Journal, 60(5), 847-881. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312231189238

Mustafaa, F. N., & Martinez, M. N. (2022). A visionary working model for pursuing social justice praxis through educational psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 0(0), 1-7.

Cole-Lewis, Y. C., Hope, E. C., Mustafaa, F. N., & Jagers, R. J. (2021). Incongruent Impressions: Teacher, Parent, and Student Perceptions of Two Black Boys’ School Experiences. Journal of Adolescent Research,  (0)1-32. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584211062140

Williams, K. L., Mustafaa, F. N., & Burt, B. A. (2019). Black males and early math achievement: An examination of students’ strengths and role strain with policy implications. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 25(4), 325-352.

Sealy-Jefferson, S., Mustafaa, F.N., & Misra, D. (2019). Early-life neighborhood context, perceived stress, and preterm birth in African Americans. SSM- Population Health, 7, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100362

McGee, E.O., Houston, II, S. L., Mustafaa, F.N., Botchway, P., & Naphan, D.E. (2019). Turned off from an academic career: Engineering and computing doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers and the reasons for their dissuasion. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 14, 277-305. https://doi.org/10.28945/4250

Sealy-Jefferson, S., Roseland, M., Cote, M.L., Lehman, A. M., Whitsel, E.A., Mustafaa, F.N., Booza, J., & Simon, M.S. (2018). Rural-urban residence and stage at breast cancer diagnosis among postmenopausal women: The Women’s Health Initiative. Journal of Women’s Health. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2017.6884

Carter, R., Mustafaa, F. N., Leath, S., & Butler-Barnes, S. (2018). Teachers’ academic and behavioral expectations and girls’ pubertal development: Does the classroom learning environment matter? Social Psychology of Education, 21(4), 973-1000.

Carter, R., Mustafaa, F. N., & Leath, S. (2018). Teachers’ expectations of girls’ classroom performance and behavior: Effects of girls’ race and pubertal timing. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 38(7), 885-907. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431617699947

Mustafaa, F. N, Lozada, F., Channey, J., Skoog-Hoffman, A., & Jagers, R. J. (2017). Middle school students’ perceptions of teacher support, teaching practices, and school engagement: An examination of the Developmental Designs approach. Middle Grades Research Journal, 11(2), 83-98.

Richardson, B. L., Macon, T. A., Mustafaa, F. N., Bogan, E. D., Cole-Lewis, Y., & Chavous, T. M. (2015). Associations of racial discrimination and parental discrimination coping messages with African American adolescent racial identity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(6), 1301-1317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0196-6

Non-Refereed Publications

Taylor, A.N., Mustafaa, F.N., Christensen, C. (2017). Diversity within diversity: The varied experiences of Asian and Asian American law students. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.

Jagers, R., Mustafaa, F. N., & Noel, B. (2017). Cultural integrity and African American empowerment: Insights and practical implications for community psychology. Invited chapter in M.A. Bond, C.B. Keys & I. Serrano-Garcia (Eds.), Handbook of community psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

*Chavous, T., Drotar, S., Fonseca-Bolorin, G., Leath, S., F., Lyons, D., & Mustafaa, F. (2016). Identity, motivation, and resilience: The example of Black college students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Invited chapter in J. DeCuir-Gunby and P. Schutz (Eds.) Researching race and ethnicity in the study of learning and motivation in social and cultural contexts.

Mustafaa, F. N. (2013, November 26). Pursuing racial equity in evaluation practice. Invited guest post to the American Evaluation Association’s blog, AEA365.

Selected Presentations

Mustafaa, F. N. (2019, February; panelist). You can’t capture what you can’t see: Prioritizing researcher positionality in equity-focused educational research. Hewlett Foundation Grantee Convening, Savannah, GA.

Mustafaa, F. N. (2019, February). The National Survey of Black Teachers: A multidisciplinary survey research study to understand, train, and retain a diverse teacher pool. University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education, Berkeley, CA.

Okonofua, J.A. & Mustafaa, F. N. (2018, November). The role of empathic mindsets in decreasing racial discipline disparities. Minority Student Achievement Network, Governing Board of Superintendents Convening, Chicago, IL.

Mustafaa, F. N. (2017, April). Beneath the skin: Black K-12 educators’ racial identities, sociodemographics, and culturally relevant pedagogy dispositions. Roundtable paper presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Williams, K.L., Mustafaa, F.N., & Saunders, K. (2016, October). Expanding STEM pathways for young Black males. Paper Presentation at 5th Annual International Colloquium on Black Males in Education, Hamilton, Bermuda.

Mustafaa, F.N., Richardson, B., L., Anyiwo, N., Johnson, N., & Chavous, T.M. (2016, July). A comprehensive review of research using the MMRI and the MIBI. Paper presentation at the Biannual APA Division 45 conference, Palo Alto, CA.

Mustafaa, F. N., Davis, N. R., Jagers, R. J., & Alston, M. (2014, November). A university- school partnership examining global citizenship in a K-8 Detroit school: Vision to praxis. Paper presentation at the International Conference on Urban Education, Montego Bay, JA.

Mustafaa, F. N., Smith, C., Hope, E., & Moore, S. (2013, June). Integrating sociopolitical development into social and emotional learning interventions. Paper presentation at the Society for Community Research and Action’s Biennial conference, Miami, FL.

Hope, E., Moore, S., & Mustafaa, F. N. (2013, June). University-community partnerships for social change: Creating and teaching an experiential learning course on your campus. Workshop presentation at the Society for Community Research and Action’s Biennial conference, Miami, FL.

Mustafaa, F. N. (2013, June). Developing the “Whole [Black] Child”: Delineating models of African-centered education. Poster presented at the Black Graduate Conference in Psychology, Chapel Hill, NC.

Mustafaa, F. N. (2012, July). Elder/grandparent care-giving and its implications for emerging adult development. Poster presentation at the annual International Congress of Psychology, Cape Town, S.A.

*Macon, T., Mustafaa, F. N., Osai, E., Richardson, B., & Williams, A. (2012, February). Peers, teachers, and support: What matters for academic and social motivation? Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development conference on the Positive Development of Minority Children, Tampa, FL.

Mustafaa, F. N., Williams, K., & Burt, B. (2011, April). “A chicken in every pot” and college for every student: Examining relationships between race, urbanicity, and discrete intervals of postsecondary training. Roundtable paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Mustafaa, F. N., Mesa, V., & Lande, E. (2009, November). Methodological considerations in assessing the impact of developmental/remedial math on postsecondary student outcomes. Symposium presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC.

Bailey, T. C. & Mustafaa, F. N. (2009, October). Engineering education for the betterment of society: Evaluation of K-12 and student transition initiatives. Poster presented at the 4th Annual Research and Scholarship in Engineering symposium at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Fisher, A., Lee, M., Bailey, T., Masse, J., McGuinness, T., & Mustafaa, F.N. (2009, June). Improving access and academic success for underrepresented students. Panel session presented at the 49th Annual Forum, Association for Institutional Research, Atlanta, GA.

Van Nimwegen, K.L., Petrill, S.A., Deater-Deckard, K., Kochie, T.M., Markley, S.D., Patel, K.A., Mustafaa, F.N., and Zach, S. (2003, May). Pre-adoptive environmental influences on outcomes in adopted children. Poster session presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development Conference, Tampa, FL.

* Authors contributed equally and are listed alphabetically.

Fellowships and Honors

2024: Honorable Mention, UC Davis Graduate Studies Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentoring Award

2021: Awardee, UC Davis School of Education Faculty Mentorship Award

2019: Faculty Scholar, UC Davis Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives in the Social Sciences and Humanities (CAMPSSAH)

Professional Affiliations

American Educational Research Association
Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race (APA Division 45)