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1. Women drive efforts to highlight concealable stigmatized identities in U.S. academic science and engineering

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287795  

   Busch, Carly A.; Cooper, Katelyn M.; Brownell, Sara E. (July 2023, PLOS ONE)

   Fontanesi, Lilybeth (Ed.)

   Concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs) are hidden identities that carry negative stereotypes and can result in a loss of social status if revealed. Instructors often choose to conceal these CSIs due to anticipated negative student reactions, yet revealing CSIs can have a positive impact on undergraduates. Women are generally more likely to reveal personal aspects about themselves in social situations, but may face greater consequences for revealing a stigmatized identity to students given their already marginalized position in academic science and engineering. Therefore, in this study, we were interested in understanding to what extent there are differences between men and women science and engineering instructors in (i) the representation of CSIs, (ii) their decisions to reveal CSIs to undergraduates in their classes, and (iii) their perceived stigma of CSIs. Based on a national survey of over 2,000 instructors in science and engineering from very high research activity doctoral institutions, we found that women were more likely than men to report having depression, anxiety, or a disability. Of instructors who held CSIs, women had 1.5x higher odds than men of revealing their CSIs to some undergraduates compared to no undergraduates and perceived greater stigma associated with all CSIs. Despite perceiving greater stigma associated with concealable stigmatized identities, women are more likely to reveal their CSIs to college science and engineering students, leading the way to a more diverse and inclusive scientific community by demonstrating themselves as role models for these identities. 

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2. An Exploration of Black Students Interacting with Computing College and Career Readiness Vlog Commentary Social Media Influencers

   https://doi.org/10.1109/MCSE.2020.3005635  

   Cummings, Robert T; Huff, Earl W.; Mack, Naja A.; Womack, Kevin; Reid, Amber; Ghoram, Brandon; Gosha, Kinnis; Gilbert, Juan E (January 2020, Computing in Science & Engineering)

   Effective advisement can help to address the disproportionately lower self-efficacy, identity, and sense of belonging experienced by Black students in computing degree programs.. Black social media influencers who produce video log (vlog) commentary content on the YouTube platform were investigated to determine the influence they have on improving computing identity for Black students. This exploratory study consists of three studies: (1) a synthesis of vlog commentary college and career advisement videos, coding for the quality of advisement, usability, and user experience; (2) an advisor effectiveness and user experience survey using a selected Black social media influencer who provides computing college and career advisement; and (3) a user experience and interaction preference survey using a selected Black social media influencer. Findings suggest YouTube influencers could be effective, particularly for beginners in the computing field. Future studies intend to further explore Black computing advisement through social media over a long term and at varying levels of interaction. 

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3. Cognitive Implications of Engaging With “Fitspiration” Content on Social Media

   https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.37458  

   Zimmerman, Jordan; De Rezende, Angelica; Wright, Anna M.; Lord, Kaitlin M.; Brown-Schmidt, Sarah (January 2022, Collabra: Psychology)

   Social media is a routine part of every-day life for millions of people worldwide. How does engaging with social media shape enduring memories for that experience? This question is important given the popularity of certain types of content on social media platforms, such as content widely known as “fitspiration”. Two experiments involving 510 US adults (mean age = 36.82) examined memory for food and fitness-related social media images that individuals write comments about, as well as memory for other images in the context. We demonstrate that commenting on social media images boosts memory for them and weakly affects memory for conceptually related images in the same context. Exploratory analyses revealed correlations between self-reported disordered eating symptomology and effects of commenting on memory. These findings demonstrate that how people engage with social media has implications for the enduring memories of that content and may relate to behaviors and attitudes in offline lives, such as eating and body image. 

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4. Investigating Best Practices for Remote Summative Usability Testing with People with Mild to Moderate Dementia

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3460942  

   Wood, Rachel; Dixon, Emma; Elsayed-Ali, Salma; Shokeen, Ekta; Lazar, Amanda; Lazar, Jonathan (September 2021, ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing)

   People with dementia may miss out on the benefits of using technology, because they often find it difficult to use. Usability testing is one method to identify barriers and areas for improvement in technology. Unfortunately, usability testing is often not conducted with people with dementia, independent of their caregivers. Difficulty recruiting local participants with dementia who regularly use technology further compounds the problem. Remote methods have been proposed as one approach to recruiting hard-to-reach populations. Currently, it is unclear how to effectively conduct remote summative usability testing with people with dementia. We recruited 15 participants. Five took part in the pilot study and 10 participated in the main study. We identify best practices and make suggestions for remote summative usability tests with people who have mild to moderate dementia, independent of caregivers. We discuss our findings in three sections: (1) logistics for planning remote summative usability testing, (2) approaches for conducting remote summative usability testing, including modifications of research methods, and (3) considerations when evaluating findings from remote summative usability sessions. We also present modified usability testing methods we developed to meet the unique needs of users with mild to moderate dementia, and summarize lessons learned and new directions for research on this topic. 

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5. The Human Need for Equilibrium: Qualitative Study on the Ingenuity, Technical Competency, and Changing Strategies of People With Dementia Seeking Health Information

   https://doi.org/10.2196/35072  

   Dixon, Emma; Anderson, Jesse; Blackwelder, Diana C; Radnofsky, Mary L; Lazar, Amanda (January 2022, Journal of Medical Internet Research)

   Background Prior research on health information behaviors of people with dementia has primarily focused on examining the types of information exchanged by people with dementia using various web-based platforms. A previous study investigated the information behaviors of people with dementia within a month of their diagnosis. There is an empirical gap in the literature regarding the evolution of health information needs and behaviors of people with dementia as their condition progresses. Objective Our work primarily investigated the information behaviors of people with dementia who have been living with the condition for several (4 to 26) years. We also aimed to identify their motivations for changing their information behaviors over time. Our primary research questions were as follows: how do people with dementia get informed about their condition, and why do people with dementia seek information about their condition? Methods We adopted an action research approach by including 2 people with dementia as members of our research team. Collaboratively, we conducted 16 remote 1-hour contextual inquiry sessions with people living with mild to moderate dementia. During the study sessions, the first 40 minutes included semistructured interviews with participants concerning their information behaviors, followed by a 20-minute demonstration of their information-seeking strategies. Data from these interviews were analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Results Participants described their information needs in terms of managing the disrupted physiological, emotional, and social aspects of their lives following a diagnosis of dementia. They used various information behaviors, including active search, ongoing search, monitoring, proxy search, information avoidance, and selective exposure. These information behaviors were not stagnant; however, they were adapted to accommodate the changing circumstances of their dementia and their lives as they worked to re-establish equilibrium to continue to engage in life while living with a degenerative neurological condition. Conclusions Our research revealed the motivations, changing abilities, and chosen strategies of people with dementia in their search for information as their condition evolves. This knowledge can be used to develop and improve person-centered information and support services for people with dementia so that they can more easily re-establish equilibrium and continue to engage in life. 

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