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Self Confidence and Diversity at MITLizz Albany, Olivia Gierlich, Peter Lee, and Michael Plasmeier
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How many of you think self-esteem is important?
Do you think your academic self-esteem is directly affected
by your gender or race?
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Agenda
1. Introduction: Examining the self-esteem of MIT students
2. Literature Review: Current theories and what makes MIT different
3. Research Design: Distributing our Survey4. Analysis: Examining the Data for Differences5. Conclusion: Are MIT students really
different?
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Importance of Examining Self-Esteem
oFor individualso self-esteem affects performance in all aspects of life
o At MIT o creating a sense of equality
oIn Americao unemployment rates are higher for minoritieso self confidence is an influential component of job
interviews and other work-related interactions
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What Current Literature has Revealed
oTwo conflicting schools of thought:1. Minorities have lower self-esteem
oStereotype ThreatoPreferential Treatment
2. Minorities have equal or higher self-esteemoAcademic DisidentificationoSocial Reference Theory
oGeneral literary conclusion: minorities will have the same or higher relative self-esteem, women will have lower self-esteem relative to their peers
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Hypothesis: Minorities and women at MIT have a lower relative self-
esteem
oWhy is MIT different?oPrestigious InstitutionoMeritocracy AttitudesoRepresentative DemographicsoGenerous Financial Aid
Methods
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Who is our target audience?oMIT Undergraduate populationoSent to:
oDormso SororitiesoFraternitieso Student Clubs
oGoal:oCollect a varied sample from across campus
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What did we distribute?oShort electronic survey
oConsent FormoAcademic Self-ConfidenceoDemographicsoGender StigmaoRacial Stigma
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Academic Self Concept (ASC)
o Examine effects on academic self-concepto Created by Liu and Wang of Nanyang University in
Singaporeo 7 Point scaleo Sample: “I am usually interested in my schoolwork” or
“I am always waiting for the lessons to end”o Positive and Negative questions
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Stigma Consciousness Questionnaires (SCQ)
oQuestions by Pinel from UT AustinoAsks about perceptions of discrimination o Sample: “Stereotypes about women have not affected
me personally” or “Most men have a lot more sexist thoughts than they actually express”
Results
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Hypotheses
oH0 = ASCMale = ASCFemale
oH1 = ASCMale ≠ ASCFemale
oH0 = ASCCaucasian = ASCAfrican American = ASCAsian = ASCHispanic =ASCOther
oH1 = ASCCaucasian ≠ ASCAfrican American ≠ ASCAsian ≠ ASCHispanic ≠ ASCOther
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Males have a higher academic self concept than females
t: -4.59; p < .0001
Male Female3
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5
6
7
4.984.65
ASC
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Males and females perceive similar amounts of stigma regarding their
gender
t = -1.35; p = .175
Male Female3
4
5
6
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4.08 3.95
SCQ
Gen
der
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Each race has a similar academic self concept…
F = 1.03; p = .387
African American
Asian Caucasian Hispanic Other3
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5
6
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4.684.86 4.79
4.63 4.7ASC
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…but African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics perceived a racial stigma
vs Caucasian base line
F=7.53; p < .0001
Africa
n Am
erican
Asian
Caucasia
n
Hispanic
Other
3
4
5
6
7
4.96
4.14 3.984.28
4.02
SCQ
Rac
e
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Greek participation made no difference in academic self concept
t = .1696, p = .86
Greek Not Greek3
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5
6
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4.77 4.76ASC
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ASC Scale Regression
4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5
Baseline
Female AsianHispanic
Other Race
Greek
Year
African American
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SCQ Gender Regression
3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4 4.1 4.2
Baseline
Female
Asian
Hispanic
Other Race
Greek
Year
African American
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SCQ Race Regression
3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8
Baseline
Female
Asian
Hispanic
Other Race
Year
African American
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Summary of Results
oMales have a higher academic self conceptoGender stigma consciousness is largely the sameoRace stigma consciousness exists at MIT, but race does
not have a statistically significant effect on academic self concept
Discussion
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Outcome
oThere is no statistically significant difference to support our hypothesis
oMIT is not unique in these parameters
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Implications
oAcademic environment may not impact a student’s academic self confidence as compared to their peers, particularly those of a different race or gender
oOther factors, such as socioeconomic status, may override the impact of academic environment
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Limitations
oOur survey was conducted on a small scaleo Responses represented <10% of the student population
oWe did not ask for parameters like GPAoWe did not know the source schools of the prior
research, preventing direct comparisons with them
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Next Steps
oMIT on a larger, more comprehensive scaleoMIT vs. a less prestigious institutionoMIT vs. another prestigious institution
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Questions?