Department
Psychological Science
Major
Psychology
Research Advisor
Cundiff, Jessica L.
Advisor's Department
Psychological Science
Funding Source
FYRE
Abstract
Gender bias is prevalent in today's work force; while it doesn't look like it did a few decades ago, it is still very critical to detect and address it. With how unconscious and covert gender bias can be, it is difficult to teach in a normal environment without some backlash and varying information due to teaching styles, leading to differed outcomes of processing information. The WAGES Project, WAGES standing for Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation, is an interactive research-based activity that showcases how gender bias within the workforce is relevant in a manner different than that of a basic PowerPoint lecture. The board game highlights how the effects of unconscious bias unfolds over time within a job setting for different groups of people. Random assignment was used within the experiment to place participants in either a PowerPoint lecture learning environment or the WAGES simulation. After the initial testing, data was collected 3 months later where participants were asked to recall themes. We coded these responses for the overall learning outcome and found no statistical significance. While PowerPoint lectures were able to better teach intersectionality, WAGES was seemingly much more engaging for participants. During presentation, strategies for implementation will be discussed.
Biography
Jessica Frame is a current student at Missouri S&T, majoring in Psychological Sciences with working minors in Biology and Chemistry. This past semester she has participated in her first research opportunity with Dr. Cundiff. Jessica is passionate about her chosen major and plans to further her education past her bachelors to pursue a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology in hopes to become an established researcher and to better understand the human mind in the hopes to better the lives of others.
Research Category
Social Sciences
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Award
Social sciences poster presentation, Second place
Presentation Date
28 Apr 2017, 2:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Included in
Evaluating a Game Designed to Teach Gender Bias
Gender bias is prevalent in today's work force; while it doesn't look like it did a few decades ago, it is still very critical to detect and address it. With how unconscious and covert gender bias can be, it is difficult to teach in a normal environment without some backlash and varying information due to teaching styles, leading to differed outcomes of processing information. The WAGES Project, WAGES standing for Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation, is an interactive research-based activity that showcases how gender bias within the workforce is relevant in a manner different than that of a basic PowerPoint lecture. The board game highlights how the effects of unconscious bias unfolds over time within a job setting for different groups of people. Random assignment was used within the experiment to place participants in either a PowerPoint lecture learning environment or the WAGES simulation. After the initial testing, data was collected 3 months later where participants were asked to recall themes. We coded these responses for the overall learning outcome and found no statistical significance. While PowerPoint lectures were able to better teach intersectionality, WAGES was seemingly much more engaging for participants. During presentation, strategies for implementation will be discussed.
