Honours Seminar in Special Topics
Gender and Race Equality
Mondays and Wednesdays 4pm – 5:20pm
REN 2107
Dr. Christine Logel
Office: 0101E
Email: clogel@uwaterloo.ca
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-2:30pm (or by appointment)
Course Description:
This course examines psychological research related to race and gender inequality, prejudice,
and discrimination. It takes the perspective of both minority group members and majority group
members in North America. Topics include understanding sexist and racist attitudes and
behaviour, how prejudice can exist outside of awareness, and situational barriers to stigmatized
groups’ success in society.
Course Prerequisite:
PSYCH 121R or PSYCH 101; and PSYCH 220R or PSYCH 253
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to teach you how to understand social psychological research on race and
gender equality. You will learn about psychological theory and research as it relates to both the
experiences of members of stigmatized racial or gender groups, and as it relates to the majority
or powerful group’s perceptions of members of these groups. To promote equality, we must first
cover the nature of prejudice and stereotyping and its effect on targeted groups. Building on that
research, we will talk about current research on how to promote cross-race friendship, reduce the
effects of prejudice on targets, and reduce prejudiced attitudes.
By the end of the course you should be able to:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Describe key psychological theories and findings related to race and gender
Critique cultural notions of race and gender using experimental evidence
Design a study or intervention program related to race and gender
Apply psychological research to explain current events related to race and gender
Read and understand empirical journal articles
Special Notes:
- Discussing topics such as stereotypes, prejudice, and the experiences of minority group
members can be tricky because these issues can be highly sensitive. These topics are
sometimes avoided because of discomfort or norms of political correctness. In this class, we
will engage these topics directly, but respectfully, in order to explore important mechanisms
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and theory that underlie stereotyping, prejudice, and minority experience. Each class period
will allow time for discussion, and students are encouraged to raise any concerns with the
instructor either in class or privately during office hours.
-
Although Canadian content is used where possible, much of the material for this course is
based on American findings, because some research has only been conducted in the US and
not in Canada. We will discuss the implications of the lack of Canadian research and
consider what sort of research would be necessary to establish the generalizability of the US
findings.
-
Although the course aims to discuss issues related to a wide range of ethnicities, much of the
existing research focuses on issues related to people who are White and Black, followed
distantly by research related to people of East Asian descent, Hispanic descent, and
Aboriginal Canadians or American Indians. There is little research involving other
ethnicities. The course will attempt to bridge some of this gap through discussion, and
students are encouraged to think beyond existing research for their assignments.
Grade Evaluation:
ITEM
Test
Attendance at, and
participation in, class and
class discussions
Role Model Presentation
Paper
Thought question and
participation in thought
question discussion
Individual presentations in
class.
Attendance at, and
participation in, others’
presentations
WEIGHTING
30%
5%
DATE
March 5
Jan 9 to March 7
5%
25%
5%
Jan 9 to March 7
April 2
Feb 29 and March 7
25%
March 12 to April 2
5%
March 12 to April 2
Format of Tests:
The test includes essay and short written answer items from the lecture, and will require a
thorough understanding of the assigned readings. Students are responsible for all material
covered in the course.
Role Model Presentations:
Role models are well-known to help create equality by providing counterexamples to members
of the majority group and giving confidence to members of the minority group. Each class, one
or two students will very briefly describe a gender or racial role model. Very little research is
needed – Wikipedia is fine. Just show a picture and tell the class what this person did and how
he/she can be a role model to others to promote equality.
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Paper:
Papers should be no more than 2000 words. A marking scheme will be available on UW-ACE.
More information will be provided in class. It is strongly recommended that you show Dr. Logel
an outline of your paper and get her feedback.
If you hand in your assignment early, Dr. Logel will give you feedback and an interim mark. You
may choose to keep that mark, or incorporate her feedback and attempt to increase your mark.
You may do this as many times as you want until you are satisfied with your mark, provided that
you submit a final version by the deadline on the syllabus, and that you allow at least one week
for Dr. Logel to return it with her comments. E.g., If you submit your paper two weeks before the
deadline, Dr. Logel will return it with comments within one week, and you will have one week to
make changes and resubmit by the deadline. No changes will be accepted after the deadline on
the syllabus.
For the assignment, you may choose from one of these options. If you have an idea for a
different format, that may be acceptable as well, provide you talk to Dr. Logel and get her
approval first.
Option #1. You are a graduate student in a PhD program of your choice. Write a short grant
proposal that, if awarded, could fund your research. First describe two studies that were covered
in the lecture or readings, and then describe a follow-up study that you would run. Include a
description of what participants in your study would experience, and what you would learn about
gender or race from that study.
Option #2. You are a social worker hired to design a program to teach high school students
about sexism and racism, OR to reduce their sexism or racism, OR to inoculate minority students
against the negative consequences of sexism or racism. Write an outline for the program,
describe two studies from the lecture or readings that will either inform how you design the
program, or will be presented to the high school students. Discuss at least one existing program
and why yours is better in some way. Include at least three elements in your program (elements
may include activities you want them to do, things you want them to learn, behaviours you want
them to change, etc.) and explain why each element is worth including (with research evidence).
Class Attendance and Participation:
Each student gets two unexplained absences during the term without losing participation marks.
All other absences will require documentation. Students are responsible for catching up on
material that they missed. Dr. Logel will only provide assistance catching up on material for
absences with documentation.
Class Presentations:
Each student will present individually. You should plan to present for about 15 minutes, but also
include an additional 10 minutes for discussion with the class. That 10 minutes can be broken up
into smaller chunks if you so choose, and it can be held before, during, or after your presentation.
You are responsible for leading the discussion portions by posing questions to the class. Your
presentation may include videos or film clips but it must take up no more than 5 minutes of time.
It is highly recommended that you meet with Dr. Logel to discuss your proposed topic and get
her suggestions for relevant psychology papers. You may also get her feedback on an outline of
your talk. Failing to meet with Dr. Logel may result in lower presentation grades.
Choose ONE of these three options. Dr. Logel will be modeling examples of each option during
her class lectures.
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Option #1: Start by choosing an event related to gender or race. This event could take place in
your own life, a fictional TV program, movie, or book, or in the current news. Using the material
described in the lecture or readings, explain how that event illustrates, or is explained by,
theories or findings from the psychological literature. Make sure you describe at least two related
theories or papers.
Example: You might describe a time when someone discriminated against you, describe
how the person’s behavior was an example of modern sexism or racism, and how your
reaction was an example of attributional ambiguity. To lead the discussion, you might ask
the class what they thought the person who discriminated against you was thinking and
how he or she felt afterwards.
Option #2: Design a psychological study that tests a hypothesis you have about race and gender.
Include an introduction discussing at least two past theories or studies, your hypothesis, how you
would measure or manipulate your independent variables, how you would measure your
dependent variables, and what you would expect the results to look like.
Example: You might have a hypothesis that women who played a lot of sports as children
might be more comfortable than other women working in an all-male environment. You
might present two studies that suggest why your hypothesis might be supported, and then
design a study in which you survey women about their sports background and their
experiences at work. To lead the discussion, you might ask the class how you could
improve your design.
Option #3: Teach the class about an issue related to gender and/or race equality. Include
describe at least two theories or studies that are relevant. Some possible topics include: race or
gender equality in any culture outside of North America, any theory or study about race or
gender that was not discussed in detail in class, past psychological ideas about race or gender
(such as Freud, Jung, Horney, etc) or any other topic.
Example: You might teach the class about biracial identities: what psychological studies
suggest that biracial people experience, how they may be viewed by others, any data you
can find about how many people identify as biracial, etc. To lead the discussion, you
might ask the class about the experience of friends or relatives or public features who are
biracial.
Lecture Schedule & Assigned Readings:
Date
Jan 4
Topic
Introduction
Reading / Notes
No reading
Jan 9
Racism and Sexism I
Swim, J. K., Aikin, K. J., Hall, W. S., &
Hunter, B. A. (1995). Sexism and racism:
Old-fashioned and modern prejudices.
Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 68(2), 199-214.
Jan 11
Racism and Sexism II
No New Readings
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Jan 16
Situational Barriers to the
Success of Stigmatized
Groups
Steele, C., & Aronson J. (1995). Stereotype
threat and the intellectual test performance
of African Americans. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 69,
797-811.
Jan 18
Situational Barriers to the
Success of Stigmatized
Groups II
Logel, C., Walton, G. M., Spencer, S. J.,
Iserman, E. C., von Hippel, W., & Bell, A.
E. (2009). Interacting with sexist men
triggers social identity threat among female
engineers. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 96(6), 1089-1103.
Jan 23
Consequences of Racism
and Sexism I
Crocker, J., Voelkl, K., Testa, M., & Major,
B. (1991). Social stigma: The affective
consequences of attributional ambiguity.
Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 60(2), 218-228.
Jan 25
Consequences of Racism
and Sexism II
Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., &
Wittenbrink, B. (2002). The police officer's
dilemma: Using ethnicity to disambiguate
potentially threatening individuals. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology,
83(6), 1314-1329.
Jan 30
Women in the Workplace I
Fuegen, K., Biernat, M., & Haines, E.
(2004). Mothers and fathers in the
workplace: How gender and parental status
influence judgments of job-related
competence. Journal of Social Issues, 60,
737-754.
Feb 1
Women in the Workplace II
Feb 6
Cross-Race Interactions
Swim, J. K., & Sanna, L. J. (1996). He's
skilled, she's lucky: A meta-analysis of
observers' attributions for women's and
men's successes and failures. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(5), 507519
Shelton, J. N., Richeson, J. A., & Salvatore,
J. (2005). Expecting to be the target of
prejudice: Implications for interethnic
interactions. Personality and Social
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Psychology Bulletin, 31(9), 1189-1202.
Feb 8
Promoting cross-race
friendship
No New Readings
Feb 13
Interventions to Reduce the
Negative Effects of Sexism
and Racism I
Cohen, G. L., Steele, C. M., & Ross, L. D.
(1999). The mentor’s dilemma: Providing
critical feedback across the racial divide.
Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin, 25, 1302-1318.
Feb 15
Interventions to Reduce the
Negative Effects of Sexism
and Racism II
Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., &
Master, A. (2006). Reducing the racial
achievement gap: A social-psychological
intervention. Science, 313, 1307-1310.
Feb 20
Reading Week
No Class
Feb 22
Reading Week
No Class
Feb 27
Interventions to Reduce
Racist and Sexist Attitudes
and Behaviours I
No New Readings
Feb 29
Interventions to Reduce
Racist and Sexist Attitudes
and Behaviours II
No New Readings
Thought Questions Due
March 5
Test
No New Readings
March 7
Class Discussion on
Thought Questions and
Parking Lot Questions
Class Presentations
No New Readings
March
14
Class Presentations
No reading
March
19
Class Presentations
No reading
March
Class Presentations
No reading
March
12
No reading
6
21
March
26
March
28
Apr 2
Finals
Period
Class Presentations
No reading
Class Presentations
No reading
Class Presentations
No reading
Paper due beginning of last
class
No Final Exam
No reading
Notes/Policies:
1) Desire 2Learn. Please check D2L regularly. I will post announcements, lecture notes, grades,
etc.
2) Attendance: To succeed, attend all lectures. Tests will be approximately 50% lecture
material, and I will present material not covered in your textbook and expand on important points
in the text.
3) Cell phone policy: Ringing cell phones are a disruption during lecture, as is leaving the room
to accept a cell phone call during class (even if the ringer is off). Texting can also be a distraction
to the people around you. Cell phones must be turned off during lectures.
4) Accommodation for Illness or Unforeseen Circumstances:
The instructor follows the practices of the University of Waterloo in accommodating students
who have documented reasons for missing quizzes or exams. See
http://www.registrar.uwaterloo.ca/students/accom_illness.html
Students may take make-up tests if they inform me IN ADVANCE that they will be unable to
take the test and follow the procedures outlined at the link above (including having verifiable
evidence of a medical problem in a note from Health Services. Students who do not have
documentation and do not notify me in advance may not write a make-up test. Allowing them to
do so is unfair to the students who showed up for the test. These students may write the optional
final exam to replace their missed midterm.
5) Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the
University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and
responsibility.
Academic Integrity website (Arts):
http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html
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Academic Integrity Office (UW):
http://uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/
6) Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity [check
www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ ] to avoid committing academic offences and to take
responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an
offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about
“rules” for group work/collaboration, should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic
advisor, or Renison’s Administrative Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred,
disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71, Student Discipline. For information on
categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to this
policy www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm . For typical penalties check
Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm .
7) Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university
life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70,
Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm
8) Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under Policy 70
- Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71 - Student
Discipline if grounds for an appeal can be established. Read Policy 72 - Student Appeals
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm .
9) Accommodation for Students with Disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities
(OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to
arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the
academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the
impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.
10) Final Examination Policy
There is no final exam in this course.
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