PhD studentships on social networks, stereotypes, and social inequalities

PhD studentships on social networks, stereotypes, and social inequalities

Two fully funded four-year PhD studentships (including home or international fees) are available as part of the ERC Starting Grant titled Applied stereotypes, social networks, and self-fulfilling prophecies:
How stereotypes reinforce social inequalities, led by Dr. Zsófia Boda. The PhD students will be based at the Quantitative Social Science centre within the Social Research Institute, which is part of the Institute of Education  project aims to develop the concept of applied stereotypes - the way we apply our stereotypes to other people - and empirically investigate how applied stereotypes of peers affect the educational outcomes and well-being of pupils.

Background

Stereotypes are commonly held beliefs about social groups. These are often specific and context-dependent (e.g., English people enjoy talking about the weather). However, there are two general and more-or-less universal dimensions of stereotypes: warmth (kind, trustworthy, generous) and competence (knowledgeable, confident, clever), along which all relevant groups (including ethnic groups, genders, and social classes) are judged.

Minority groups are typically seen as less warm, less competent, or both, than the dominant group. This may lead to lower expectations towards minority members, making it more difficult for them to achieve to the same degree, developing aspirations as high, and forming social networks as effectively as those in majority groups. Stereotypes thus have the potential to conserve social inequalities.

However, the exact mechanisms, and how these can be counteracted, are not fully understood.

The central idea of this project is that a stereotype will affect individuals’ outcomes (and ultimately, social inequalities) because, and if, the stereotype is applied to these individuals by others. Scrutinising how stereotypes are applied and how people can avoid harmful stereotypes being applied to them will help us better understand why some minority members succeed against the odds.

Stereotype application processes have received significant attention by social psychologists, but most studies examine these indirectly. Our project will directly measure applied stereotypes - how one specific person perceives another person. For instance, Pupil A may view Pupil B as very clever, whereas Pupil C may not view Pupil B as particularly clever. By distinguishing between the judgements of different perceive rs of the same person, the project treats applied stereotypes as dyadic relationships.

This way, we can focus on entire classrooms of pupils as networks of such person-to-person judgements, and analyse who sees whom as warm and competent, and how these perceptions are connected across the network, applying methods of social network analysis.

Aims and activities

The PhD students will help achieve the two main empirical aims of the project:
1) to explore to what extent warmth and competence stereotypes about groups are applied to specific people, by whom, and what moderates this, and
2) to investigate how applied stereotypes affect various pupil outcomes through self-fulfilling prophecies.

You will examine research questions such as:

• Are students from different backgrounds perceived systematically differently by their peers?
• What is the role of friendships and other peer relations in applied stereotypes?
• How do perceptions of warmth and competence spread through the network?
• How do applied stereotypes influence students’ well-being, motivation, or academic performance?

The specific questions you will work on will depend on your own disciplinary background, research interests, and research expertise. We are excited for you to bring your own research ideas into the project.

To answer these questions, you will rely on advanced quantitative methods; for most analyses, you will apply longitudinal models for social network analysis (stochastic actor-oriented models). You will receive training in social network analysis, and your supervisor and the senior project team will provide hands-on assistance throughout your PhD.

As part of the team, you will also…