Associate Chair for Diversity Initiatives & Space Management; University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology
About
Dr. Kevin Cokley is the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor and Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Michigan (U-M) and Associate Chair for Diversity Initiatives and Space Management. A nationally recognized scholar of Black psychology, Dr. Cokley’s research has been guided by two broad questions: (1) How do psychological and environmental factors impact African American student outcomes? and more recently (2) What is the nature of the impostor phenomenon, and what role does it play in the academic outcomes and mental health of African American and other racially minoritized students? His book, The Impostor Phenomenon: Psychological Research, Theory, and Interventions is the first comprehensive, research-driven, scholarly volume on the impostor phenomenon that goes beyond scattered studies and popular psychology narratives to a coherent, evidence-based academic discipline. The book is a definitive scholarly reference that conceptualizes the impostor phenomenon as a response to inequitable, racialized, gendered, and exclusionary environments.
Across his career, Dr. Cokley has advanced a research agenda that challenges deficit-based narratives about Black students and interrogates the structural conditions that shape academic belonging. His widely cited scholarship on the impostor phenomenon reframes it is as a racialized and contextual experience, rather than an individual pathology, offering a more accurate and justice-oriented account of how students navigate predominantly White institutions. His books, including The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism and Making Black Lives Matter offer insight into understanding the intersections of race, identity, and educational opportunity. Together with his Research on Race, Achievement, Culture, and Education (RACE) lab, he examines the challenges racially minoritized students face as they navigate educational environments, as well as the psychosocial factors that support their academic success and well-being.
Dr. Cokley is also a prominent public scholar whose op-eds and media commentary bring psychological research to bear on urgent social issues, including anti-Blackness, police violence, and the politics of diversity, equity and inclusion. He has served in major national leadership roles, including as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Black Psychology and as past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race of the American Psychological Association.
Before joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Cokley held faculty and leadership positions at the University of Texas at Austin, including serving as Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis (IUPRA) and Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology.
Recent Representative Publications
Farmer, A., Holland, N., Alvarado, D., & Cokley, K. (2025). Black Students’ Impostor Feelings and Mental Health at HBCUs and PWCUs: Examining Moderating Effects of Racial Identity and Cultural Congruity. Journal of Black Psychology.
Bernard, D. L., Cokley, K., Harris, K., Hall-Jones, S., Coleman, C., Kelley, T., Matthews, I., Pollock, M., Rhymes, L., & Hess, J. (2025). Initial construction and validation of the racialized impostor phenomenon scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cou0000852
Coleman, C., Kelley, T., Hall-Jones, S., Harris, K., & Cokley, K. (2025). Investigating minority status stress and mental health of racially minoritized college students: The importance of the university environment. Journalof Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000656
Steers, R. & Cokley, K. (2025). The Relationship Between Africentrism, Mental Health Outcomes, and Academic Self-Concept Among Black College Students. Journal of Black Psychology, 51(5), 555-580. 51(1), 90-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984251338693
Cokley, K., Bernard, D., Stone-Sabali, S., & Awad, G. (2024). Impostor phenomenon in racially/ethnically minoritized groups: Current knowledge and future directions. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 20, 407-430. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-081122-015724
Demanarig, D., Cokley, K., Beasley, S., Hita, L., Hashem, H., Mujica, C., Mamidanna, P., & Mercado, A. (2024). Mending fragile alliances to fight racism: Developing a framework for cross-racial/ethnic solidarity. American Psychologist, 79(4), 553-568. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001307
Garba, R., Coleman, C., Kelley, T., Harris, K., Hall, S., & Cokley, K. (2024). Perceived discrimination, cultural mistrust, and mental health among Black collegians. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 43(17), 15499-15506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05486-0
