Self Confidence and Diversity at MIT Lizz Albany, Olivia Gierlich, Peter Lee, and Michael Plasmeier

How many of you think self- esteem is important? Do you think your academic self-esteem is directly affected by your gender or race? 2

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 Survey 4. Analysis: Examining the Data for Differences 5. Conclusion: Are MIT students really different? 3

Importance of Examining Self- Esteem o For individuals o self-esteem affects performance in all aspects of life o At MIT o creating a sense of equality o In America o unemployment rates are higher for minorities o self confidence is an influential component of job interviews and other work-related interactions 4

What Current Literature has Revealed o Two conflicting schools of thought: 1. Minorities have lower self-esteem o Stereotype Threat o Preferential Treatment 2. Minorities have equal or higher self-esteem o Academic Disidentification o Social Reference Theory o General literary conclusion: minorities will have the same or higher relative self-esteem, women will have lower self-esteem relative to their peers 5

Hypothesis: Minorities and women at MIT have a lower relative self-esteem o Why is MIT different? o Prestigious Institution o Meritocracy Attitudes o Representative Demographics o Generous Financial Aid 6

Methods

Who is our target audience? o MIT Undergraduate population o Sent to: o Dorms o Sororities o Fraternities o Student Clubs o Goal: o Collect a varied sample from across campus 8

What did we distribute? o Short electronic survey o Consent Form o Academic Self-Confidence o Demographics o Gender Stigma o Racial Stigma 9

Academic Self Concept (ASC) o Examine effects on academic self-concept o Created by Liu and Wang of Nanyang University in Singapore o 7 Point scale o Sample: “I am usually interested in my schoolwork” or “I am always waiting for the lessons to end” o Positive and Negative questions 10

Stigma Consciousness Questionnaires (SCQ) o Questions by Pinel from UT Austin o Asks 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” 11

Results

Hypotheses o H0 = ASC Male = ASC Female o H1 = ASC Male ≠ ASC Female o H0 = ASC Caucasian = ASC African American = ASC Asian = ASC Hispanic = ASC Other o H1 = ASC Caucasian ≠ ASC African American ≠ ASC Asian ≠ ASC Hispanic ≠ ASC Other 13

Males have a higher academic self concept than females t: -4.59; p <

Males and females perceive similar amounts of stigma regarding their gender t = -1.35; p =

Each race has a similar academic self concept… F = 1.03; p =

…but African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics perceived a racial stigma vs Caucasian base line F=7.53; p <

Greek participation made no difference in academic self concept t =.1696, p =.86 18

ASC Scale Regression 19

SCQ Gender Regression African American 20

SCQ Race Regression 21

Summary of Results o Males have a higher academic self concept o Gender stigma consciousness is largely the same o Race stigma consciousness exists at MIT, but race does not have a statistically significant effect on academic self concept 22

Discussion

Outcome o There is no statistically significant difference to support our hypothesis o MIT is not unique in these parameters 24

Implications o Academic environment may not impact a student’s academic self confidence as compared to their peers, particularly those of a different race or gender o Other factors, such as socioeconomic status, may override the impact of academic environment 25

Limitations o Our survey was conducted on a small scale o Responses represented <10% of the student population o We did not ask for parameters like GPA o We did not know the source schools of the prior research, preventing direct comparisons with them 26

Next Steps o MIT on a larger, more comprehensive scale o MIT vs. a less prestigious institution o MIT vs. another prestigious institution 27

Questions? 28