Project Overview
Campus Economic Inequality and Institutional Eliteness Predict Students’ Feelings of “Falling Behind” with Implications for Academic Outcomes
Department(s)
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Abstract
Economic inequality varies across college campuses, which may lead some students to feel as if they are “falling behind.” Our pilot data support this hypothesis - on a campus with high economic inequality, most students feel as if they are “falling behind” the average student; and, these feelings of “falling behind,” controlling for objective status (i.e., household income), predict negative status-related emotions, which, in turn, predict worse student well-being. The proposed work will extend upon pilot findings in two ways. First, we will examine whether feelings of “falling behind” are more pronounced in high (vs. low) inequality contexts by gathering data across 30+ institutions with varying levels of economic inequality. Likewise, we will test whether feelings of “falling behind,” controlling for objective status, predict lower executive functioning, lower academic motivation/confidence, and lower self-reported GPA, mediated by worse mental health and sleep quality/quantity. Second, we will follow up these quantitative surveys by conducting interviews to further explore the mechanisms by which students feel as if they are "falling behind" as well as to assess how students feel financial aid policies (e.g., "no loan" iniatives) at their institutions influence these subjective experiences of status. By integrating social-psychological and educational perspectives, this project aims to illuminate how structural inequality on college campuses shapes students’ well-being and academic engagement, with the goal of informing campus-level interventions that could foster more equitable learning environments. Students in our lab will help us analyze data we are currently collecting from over 30 institutions across the U.S. to assess these psychological processes on campuses that have varying levels of economic inequality. Students will also help us develop our follow-up studies which will include both quantitative survey data and interviews. Finally, students will help analyze data that we are currently collecting on direct physiological outcomes related to feelings of "falling behind"--in particular, respiratory sinus arrythmia and cortisol levels at multiple time points before and after experiencing a lab stressor.
Student Qualifications
At least one statistics course or, at the very minimum, a genuine interest in learning quantitative analysis and working with R statistical software
A committment to stay involved in the lab for at least the following fall semester
Number of Student Researchers
2 students
Project Length
8 weeks
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