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

4

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

7

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

4

5

6

7

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

4

5

6

7

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?