Ariana

Title:
They understand me: The role of race-based empathy in graduate students’ mentorship relationships with faculty advisors

Abstract:
The effective mentoring of graduate students of color by all faculty is crucial to graduate students’ retention and success in academia. Yet qualitative research suggests that faculty of color (vs. white) may be more understanding of students of color’s specific problems and needs as people of color in academia (i.e., race-based empathy). This lack of race-based understanding from a faculty advisor could disadvantage graduate students of color by diminishing their mentorship experience and likelihood of success in graduate school, ultimately perpetuating racial disparities in academia. Across two correlational studies (total N = 827), we demonstrate that graduate students of color perceive greater race-based empathy from a faculty advisor of color (vs. white), and we investigate how a lack of racial diversity among the faculty can exacerbate these unbalanced race-based empathy perceptions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the detrimental effects of perceiving lower race-based empathy from a faculty mentor. Graduate students who perceived lower race-based empathy from their faculty advisors were less likely to think their advisor would provide effective mentoring and in turn, reported worse academic and wellbeing outcomes.

Desiree

Title:
Do You See What I See? Evaluating the Consequences of Men Perceiving Subtle Gender Bias in Mixed-Gender Group Interactions

Abstract:
To extend previous work on the effects of witnessing gender bias towards women in STEM, the present research discusses the affective, cognitive, and behavioral implications of men perceiving subtle gender bias in mixed-gender STEM interactions. Across three studies, STEM identified men were exposed to an interaction between STEM-identified students in which subtle gender bias occurred towards a woman target. Participants provided open-ended evaluations of the interaction, which researchers later coded to determine whether participants mentioned the occurrence of subtle gender bias unprompted. Participants then completed measures assessing state/collective affect and cognitive/behavioral measures related to the individuals present during the interaction (e.g., target of bias, perpetrator of bias, and bystander to bias). Results and implications of this work are discussed.