Asian Americans have been labeled model minorities (Wu, 2002). Like all stereotypes, this label produces broad conclusions about a racial group; particularly that Asians persistently outperform minority groups and even Whites in educational and economic achievement. Scholarship in this area suggests that the model minority stereotype causes Whites to view other racial groups, specifically Blacks and Latinos, more negatively, but this hypothesis has not been empirically tested. The purpose of this research is to empirically explore this question. Specifically, we are interested in investigating whether priming individuals with the model minority stereotype will cause them to look down upon Blacks and to react less favorably toward policies meant to remedy inequality. UW Subject Pool participants chose to participate in the “Memory Aptitude” experiment as either a lab study or as an online Catalyst survey. Participants read one of three randomly assigned articles and they were led to believe that the articles were designed to test their memory and reading comprehension. While the experimental article made the model minority stereotype salient, the other two were control articles. After completing measures about article comprehension and memory, participants responded to questionnaire items. These questionnaire items were related to racial progress in the United States, support for policies that address inequality for minorities, and measures designed to assess attitudes towards other racial groups in the US. We hypothesized that making the model minority stereotype salient would cause both Whites and Asians to stereotype Blacks less favorably, support initiatives for equality less, and would lead Asians to affiliate less with Blacks in the fight for equality. Identifying and understanding the negative side effects of the model minority stereotype on minority groups will help illuminate mechanisms through which we can reduce group inequality and increase support for necessary programs that assist minorities in need.

This paper offers a critical examination of the immigrant activist group, CASA Latina. I explore how CASA Latina creates spaces to empower immigrant women within the organization and their communities. Using the lens of intersectionality, my project illustrates how leadership development is facilitated by reproducing social networks and by providing economic opportunities for immigrant men and women. These networks and opportunities, however, often also generate contradictions and challenges for women’s empowerment. As dominant gender categories structure social work, the impact of even well-intentioned programs often reproduces gender inequalities. Through surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, and formal and informal interviews, I examine the intersection of CASA Latina’s activism with the broader context of renewed tensions towards immigration. Ultimately, I analyze how spaces of activism can be simultaneously spaces of healing, contestation to state policies, and contradictory perspectives.

Through a community-university partnership students engaged with the Pike Place Senior Center to explore a range of social science research methods. Using a community-based participatory approach, students addressed needs identified by Senior Center members, privileging senior perspectives. This allowed students to gain richer and more comprehensive data to better understand, through the eyes of the Senior Members, the reality of their daily lives. Through this partnership the over-arching goal was to reduce social isolation, gain a more complete and holistic understanding of the relationship between the Market and the Pike Place Senior Center, and to increase visibility, awareness and accessibility to the Center. A number of additional projects emerged from the initial exploration of qualitative methods, including a digital story-telling project that highlights the community-university partnership and what each constituency learned from the experience. This video demonstrates the benefits of a collaborative research approach and highlights the utilization of community-university partnerships. The participatory community-based methodological line of inquiry allowed students to create a multi-dimensional research approach using a constellation of qualitative research methods to illuminate and showcase a holistic understanding of senior perspectives to their life worlds. Students weekly explored specific social science research methods: the establishment of a solid foundation for obtaining consent, participant-observation, interviewing, photography, social mapping, etc. Through the application of each method as a tool for gathering diverse sets of data, students soon realized that, although they were using specific methods for data collection it was the compilation of methods used collectively that provided the students with a venue to better understand, through the lens of a Senior Member, the relationship between the Market and the Senior Center. Collaboration and partnerships through social human contact is the guiding force that allowed students and senior partners to build rapport and deepen trust to obtain richer data.

 This paper provides a comparative analysis to examine the process of civil society institutionalization. Political history, economic forces and the cultural landscape of different environments directly shape organizational desires and the impact of advocacy in the public sphere. Peru and the US have different political landscapes and histories of social life. This study provides three case studies of Peruvian social organizations to reveal different structures and motivations than those found in US organizations. These different institutional objectives suggest that more factors are at play in shaping public participation in political life, and thus the public sphere. In conclusion, I argue that the public sphere is not a singular entity applicable to all environments, but a space built by respective political and cultural histories.

Although diversity policies are widely employed in the United States, little is known about their effectiveness in curbing discrimination. Diversity policies aim to decrease workplace discrimination and enhance opportunities for underrepresented groups; however, there is conflicting evidence about the efficacy of these policies. In fact, diversity policies may function counter to their aims, and actually aid in maintaining the current inequitable status quo. This study examined the role of diversity policies in observer’s perceptions of discrimination against African Americans who claim discrimination. We hypothesized that diversity policy presence would decrease both participants’ perceptions of the extent to which the African American target experienced discrimination and perceived intent to discriminate by the company. In study 1, participants read either a diversity statement, which emphasized the benefits of a culturally/ethnically diverse workforce or a mission statement (control). Additionally, participants reviewed a hypothetical news article detailing a lawsuit filed by an African American against his former employer. Subsequently, participants judged the validity of the discrimination claim and perceptions of the company’s intent to create a bias-free work environment. When the diversity policy was present, participants rated the claimant as less likely to be the target of discrimination and judged less intent to discriminate by the company. Perceptions of discrimination and intent to discriminate were positively correlated suggesting that more egalitarian appearing companies are perceived to commit less discriminatory actions. Rather than decreasing discrimination, diversity policies may be making it more difficult to detect, which is an important implication for diversity initiatives.