My name is Grace Qian and this summer I conducted social equity and diversity research under Dr. Debra Titone, funded by the 平特五不中 Alumni and Friends Science Undergraduate Research Award. I would like to express my immense gratitude for your support which offered me an enriching first experience conducting research. The project I worked on, and will continue working on this school year, investigated subconscious gender biases in academic science hiring.
Previous studies have illustrated that pervasive cultural stereotypes and pre-existing biases contribute to the underrepresentation of women in certain disciplines and across positions in leadership in academic science. In our study, we seek to understand the underlying mechanisms of gender bias in hiring by eye-tracking participants during their evaluations of application materials. In doing so, we can measure reading behavior and address whether female applicants are evaluated more poorly because their application materials are read more superficially, more intensively or female applicants are evaluated more poorly even when their application materials are read to the same degree. This understanding may make it possible to create targeted ways of reducing gender bias in academic hiring situations. In addition to this social equity and diversity project, I was also given opportunities to contribute to other studies in the Titone lab such as creating stimuli and testing participants for bilingualism studies.
Research opportunities for undergraduate students, like the Science Undergraduate Research Award I received this past summer, was why I decided to come to 平特五不中. Prior to university, I was curious about academic research and I wanted to enter a program that allowed students to supplement coursework with research experience. At 平特五不中, I learned of the Cognitive Science program in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and was especially drawn to the program because of its interdisciplinary nature. Integrating the differing approaches philosophy, linguistics, computer science, psychology and neuroscience take to address how humans think, make decisions, and interact with various environments, makes for a uniquely holistic way to study the mind and tackle many of today鈥檚 most pressing questions.
In the future, I hope to pursue a career in mental health. Following this summer experience, I am keen to continue in research and explore how science is conducted in other fields and contexts. What I found particularly compelling from my experience in the Titone Lab was how the scientific method is actually quite idiosyncratic. While peer-review processes and other procedures in place create a standard for science, I was surprised by the open-endedness of experimental design and analysis, fostering immense amounts of creativity. Thus, some of these preconceived ideas I had about scientific research pleasantly turned out to be wrong. This upcoming school year, I am looking forward to continue learning about the research process itself, as well as the results of the project I worked on this summer. Again, I express my immense thanks to you for this opportunity and beginning to my career in research.
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