15133 research outputs found
Sort by
Self-representation of female politicians: A gendered approach to social media
No full textAs social media has become a prominent online space, politicians have turned to it as a heavily filtered way to reach their target audience through a veil of authenticity. Especially for female politicians who have long lacked the same success as their male counterparts, social media platforms allow women to represent themselves separately from their gender. The purpose of this study is to examine how female politicians are using social media as a means of self-representation, unaffected by gender-based expectations derived from social-role theory. This study analyzes social media content produced by three specifically selected contemporary female politicians based on verbal and nonverbal communication methods within their respective posts. These three female politicians who were selected as a purposive sample (Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Katie Britt), come from a wide range of political alignments and ethnic backgrounds. As well, each woman posted on a different social media platform (Harris on TikTok, Ocasio-Cortez on Twitch, and Britt on Youtube), highlighting how different platforms can produce the same results for self-representation. The study will highlight how factors like intersectionality and partisanship can affect how female politicians represent themselves in the public of social media. The study will also provide a hypothesis as to why female politicians represent themselves differently than their male counterparts, especially in times of election
The severity of water pollution in the lower Passaic River
No full textThe Lower Passaic River, located in New Jersey, has long been a focal point for industrial chemical pollution, with decades of contamination stemming from unregulated discharges by numerous industrial facilities. This study investigates the severity of the pollution in the river and the critical environmental and public health concerns associated with it. I hypothesize that the extent of the contamination is primarily due to a combination of unchecked industrial practices and minimal regulatory oversight in the past. These factors have led to the accumulation of hazardous chemicals such as PCBs, dioxins, and heavy metals, which persist in the river\u27s sediments and water, significantly impacting the local ecosystem and human health. The long-term consequences of this pollution include the degradation of biodiversity, potential health risks for nearby communities, and a substantial economic burden for cleanup and restoration efforts. By examining the historical context of industrial activities and the regulatory landscape, this study highlights the urgent need for comprehensive remediation and stronger environmental protections to address the lasting impacts of pollution in the Lower Passaic River
Beyond the tipping point: Determining the optimal balance between leadership roles and student well-being
No full textLeadership, characterized as the capacity to empower individuals or groups in pursuit of similar goals, has a profound impact on both employee engagement and overall well-being, as evidently shown in the current literature (Skakon et al., 2010). However, there is a significant gap in the literature examining leadership development in college students and their overall well-being. This study aims to address this gap by examining the overall relationship between leadership development and the well-being of student leaders. Leadership development and well-being were evaluated in 73 undergraduate students across four years from five institutions offering Leadership Development Programs (LDPs). Institutions varied in size, standing as public/private, and Carnegie classification. Participants were 32% male and 68% female, with diverse racial demographics (49% Caucasian, 14% Asian, 14% Hispanic, 8% African American, 15% other/multiple identities). Regression analyses will be conducted to better understand this relationship. The results of the analyses that will be presented will assist in identifying at which point leadership positions will have negative implications towards student wellbeing rather than positive outcomes
Parent-child concordance on anxiety and executive functioning: Influences of autistic traits and socioeconomic status
No full textParent and child reports of psychosocial constructs (e.g., anxiety, social functioning) often differ, suggesting that parent and children interpret behavior differently (Lerner et al., 2012; McMahon & Solomon, 2015). Autistic and non-autistic children report anxiety symptoms differently than parents (Kalvin et al., 2020), and parent-child agreement for executive functioning (EF) can range from poor (Kenworthy et al., 2021) to moderate (Taylor et al., 2022). However, it is underexplored if child (autistic traits [AT]) and contextual (socioeconomic status [SES]) may influence parent/child agreement for EF and anxiety (Martel, 2013; Sutin et al., 2022; Lindqvist Bagge et al., 2025, Cohen et al., 2025). Autistic and non-autistic youth ages 11-17 and their parents completed measures of anxiety (MASC-2; March, 2012 & ASC-ASD; Rodgers et al., 2016) and EF (BRIEF-2; Gioia et al,. 2015). AT was determined by ADOS-2 (Lord et al., 2012). SES was grouped on annual income. Fisher’s r-to-z transformations compared parent/child correlations of EF/anxiety, and moderation examined influences of AT and SES. Parent/child correlations did not differ for anxiety or EF and AT did not moderate parent-child agreement. SES significantly moderated parent and child anxiety scores (F(3, 32)=9.21, p\u3c.001; F(3, 32)=3.82, p=.02, respectively), with better agreement in higher SES. While parents and children generally agree on anxiety/EF challenges, SES may impact agreement on anxiety levels. Notably, AT does not appear to affect this concordance, highlighting the importance of contextual factors (SES) for understanding anxiety and may shape how anxiety is perceived/reported. This study underscores the importance of multi-informant assessments
Exploring career pathways in grant writing
No full textGrant writers are a critical part of the nonprofit realm, responsible for writing clear and compelling grant proposals intended to secure funding for organizations. This work allows these organizations to continue their operations for the benefit of their communities in areas such as healthcare, the arts, education, and social services. The purpose of this study is to explore trends in this career and look at the demand for grant writers, key qualifications for attaining a job in grant writing, and career pathways available in this field. This study will examine online job postings to identify the common qualifications and necessary skills employers desire in a grant writer. This work will be supplemented by the inclusion of several interviews with current grant writers with a focus on identifying discrepancies between the qualifications listed on job postings versus the qualifications and skills of actual grant writers. Additionally, this study will review existing industry reports and articles in order to provide an overview of the current job market for grant writers and identify any trends. The findings of this study will provide a clearer picture of the demands of this profession as well as the skills needed to succeed in this job market. By the time of the Student Research Symposium, an examination of online job postings and industry reports and a brief summary of the results will be complete
Tariffs and fiscal fallout: How trade policy drives government healthcare costs
No full textOn March 12th, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by FRED recorded an annual inflation rate of 2.8%, which decreased by 0.2% in February. However, the new tariffs will not affect the inflation rate until a few months. Considering the resolution in Congress to cut the budget for Medicaid, this research uses FRED\u27s macroeconomic data (1970-2025) to explore the relationship between the fluctuation of inflation (CPI), medical care costs, and government healthcare expenditures by applying correlation analysis. It aims to assess the economic feasibility of this resolution while the uncertainty in the market for the upcoming months remains high because of tariffs and the escalating trade war. The quantitative results highlighted positive relationships between CPI, medical care costs, and government healthcare expenditures. The study has provided two key points: Medical care costs tend to increase during high inflation, suggesting a potential rise when new tariffs affect the inflation rate. Government healthcare expenditures tend to increase in response to the high demand for Medicaid to access affordable care when medical care costs are high. Both key points suggested that the resolution to cut the Medicaid budget is risky. When the new tariffs affect the inflation rate and ultimately drive up medical care costs, it could severely impact the ability to access affordable care for low-income and marginalized populations. These key points encourage policymakers to reconsider the proposal of a Medicaid budget cut that could worsen healthcare access issues during economic instability
Color of justice: Exploring racial biases in sentencing outcomes
No full textRacial bias still unfairly influences sentencing outcomes in the American criminal justice system. Racial minorities, especially African Americans and Hispanics, continue to face disproportionately harsh sentences compared to their white counterparts convicted of the same crimes. This problem is due in part to the complex interplay of implicit and systemic racial bias and socioeconomic and other factors. What can and should be done to reform the American legal system to eliminate racial inequity in sentencing outcomes? This is a complex problem requiring interdisciplinary research and analysis to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding. I researched the problem through the disciplinary perspectives of law and sociology. During the period September 2024 through March 2025, I used qualitative research methodology, (textual analysis), to analyze relevant sources. The sources included relevant texts, the Supreme Court opinion in US v. Booker (holding that Federal Sentencing Guidelines were only advisory), and relevant articles from scholarly journals. From these sources I identified conflicting insights, determined common ground between them, integrated them, and arrived at a more comprehensive understanding of the problem. This resulted in suggested resolutions of the problem. I conclude: (1) the criminal justice system requires reform to address racial profiling, criminal history, enhanced judicial accountability, and socioeconomic factors; (2) Federal Sentencing Guidelines should be reformed to limit their emphasis on crime severity and criminal history, and to address potential biases instead. My study will also open avenues for research by other scholars seeking solutions to the problem of racial bias in determining sentencing outcomes
Automated rapid prosody transcription
No full textAnnotating data, especially speech data, can be a slow and demanding task. To help speed things up, we created a tool called Automated Rapid Prosody Transcription (AutoRPT). This tool helps automatically label sections of speech recordings that relate to tone, rhythm, and emphasis (also known as Prosody) using a method called Rapid Prosody Transcription (RPT). RPT was originally designed to be done by groups of people, getting multiple opinions for each piece of data. AutoRPT works by combining the opinions of two machine learning models that vote on how the speech should be labeled. These automatic labels can then be checked and adjusted by human annotators. The goal is to reduce the amount of work humans have to do and make the process faster and easier overall
Exploring cognitive flexibility as a key moderator in anxiety and repetitive behavior dynamics
No full textAutistic individuals commonly experience anxiety (Williams et al., 2021). Repetitive behaviors (RBs), including repeated motor mannerisms, focused interests, or an insistence on sameness, are a core feature of autism, and are often exacerbated by anxiety (Williams et al., 2021). Cognitive flexibility (CF) is defined as an individual\u27s ability to adjust to different situations and respond accordingly (Dajani & Uddin, 2015). Autistic individuals often experience difficulties with task-switching, an aspect of CF, which may contribute to other challenges like increased anxiety (Lacroix et al., 2024). It is thus important to explore the role of CF in the relationship between anxiety and RBs, which can help us understand how to better clinically serve autistic adolescents experiencing anxiety. In a sample of 102 youth between the ages of 6-17 (58% autistic), parent-reported anxiety and parent-reported RBs were correlated (r = .581, p \u3c .001), as were anxiety and parent-reported CF (r = .543, p \u3c .001). RBs and CF were also positively correlated (r = .738, p \u3c .001). Moderation analysis indicated a significant main effect between CF and RBs (b = 0.02, p \u3c .001), as well as a significant interaction effect between anxiety and CF in predicting RBs (b = 0.28, p = .0011). Probing indicated that CF moderated the relationship between anxiety and RBs only for those with medium (b = 0.22, p = .024) to high (b = 0.44, p = \u3c .001) levels of CF. This data may be useful in planning treatment for autistic adolescents experiencing anxiety
Minority stress and working memory
No full textMinority Stress Theory posits that sexual minority status leads to unique stressors related to stigma, prejudice, and discrimination that creates worse mental health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals (Meyer, 2003). The present study investigated working memory in LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ samples after a minority stress induction, as stress has been linked to cognitive difficulties in the context of memory retrieval in both short- and long-term memory (Klier & Burrata, 2020). The present study incorporated a recently validated film-based minority stress induction created by Seager van Dyk et al. (2023). 184 participants (66 LGBTQ+) viewed this induction and then completed an n-back task that assessed working memory.I found that both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ groups performed similarly on the working memory task. However, LGBTQ+ participants reported more elevated negative affect after induction than non-LGBTQ+ participants. Although working memory impairments were not found in the present study, further research can examine how elevated negative affect in the face of minority stress events may impact LGBTQ+ individuals in other domains that can potentially be leading to adverse mental health outcomes