Focusing on Numbers Ignores Sources of Gender Bias

September 10, 2020

In a new paper on testing and gender bias published in the FABBS journal, Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, author Joseph R. Cimpian quotes an elementary school teacher:

            “These are my students’ standardized test scores, and there are absolutely no gender differences. See, the girls can do just as well as the boys if they work hard enough.”

In “Why Focusing on Test

How Falsehoods Start to Sound Like Facts

July 30, 2020

You need a microscope to view the stars.

You need a microscope to view the stars.

Believe me yet?  Vanderbilt University psychologist Lisa K. Fazio says hearing a statement — even “extreme falsehoods that you definitely should know are false” — more than once increases the likelihood people will believe it.

“Even statements Americans as a whole tend to know are false; it didn’t matter,” said Fazio, director of Vanderbilt’s Building Knowledge Lab.

Federal Funding for COVID-19 Research — New and Recovery

July 30, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt every aspect of our lives, in terms of research, federal policymakers are trying to determine the best ways to mitigate the consequences on the scientific ecosystem and the pressing questions where additional research is needed. After months of discussion, the White House and Senate Republicans released their version of the next COVID-19 supplemental funding package as the Health Education and Liability Protection and Schools

NSB Meets and Changes to GRFP

July 30, 2020

The National Science Board (NSB) met on Wednesday, July 29th, the first meeting since Dr. Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan was sworn in as the NSF Director earlier this month. The agenda included a presentation and panel on Black experiences in science and engineering, and how NSF might be able to improve these experiences through funding and specialized programs.

Dr. Claudia Rankins, a Program Officer in the NSF Directorate for Education and Human