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Students are not the only ones subject to a performance evaluation each semester. Laura Capotosto ’05 (Berwick, Pa.) spent the summer studying how gender issues impact students’ evaluations of their professors.
A Marquis Scholar, Capotosto worked with Susan A. Basow, Dana Professor of Psychology, as part of Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students collaborate with faculty on research while earning a stipend. Many of the more than 160 students who participate each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
Capotosto, a double major in psychology and government & law, worked with data that Basow gathered in a study at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where students gave written descriptions of their professors. She also helped write an introduction to a report on their research.
“Laura worked mainly on doing a content analysis of students’ descriptions of both their best and worst professors,” says Basow. “Content analysis is very time consuming, but Laura applied her intelligence, thoroughness, and good judgment to the task. She made good progress and I was very pleased with her ability to take charge, and openness to feedback.”
Basow’s expertise has been covered by television and radio stations, magazines, and newspapers, including the BBC, CBS, CNN, and Canadian CityTV. A widely published leader in her field, Basow is author of Sex-Role Stereotypes: Traditions and Alternatives, printed in three editions, including a Chinese translation. She also has shared her knowledge through many presentations at professional conferences and as a consultant and expert witness. She is consulting editor for Psychology of Women Quarterly and an ad-hoc editor for a dozen other publications. A licensed psychologist in two states, Basow is founder and coordinator of the Feminist Research Group of the Lehigh Valley.
“I read through hundreds of comments,” says Capotosto, “so, yes, at times it got tedious going over page after page of comments. Yet from a research vantage, it was very rewarding to see how students assess their faculty. One thing that seemed to develop is that female students rate the female professors higher than do the male students and male rates for female professors seem to be lower than expected. It’s too soon to make any final analysis, but how and why gender affects evaluations can affect not just college professors, but may have repercussions in other sorts of evaluation situations.”
Capotosto also performed a limited literature search and prepared a short review of her readings on the topic, says Basow. “Laura conducted several analyses on data from another study for an article I am writing She has been extremely cooperative and eager to learn and do new things. I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Capotosto, who took two courses with Basow, says it was their after-class discussions that encouraged her to accept Basow’s offer to work with her as an EXCEL Scholar. “I think that gender issues are important to how we see ourselves as a society, and this work gives me a chance to develop research skills while examining a topic that has bearing on how society sees itself.”
A graduate of Berwick Area High School, Capotosto is a tour guide for the admissions office and vice president of marketing in Alpha Phi sorority. She is also a member of Kirby Government and Law Society and the Experience Lafayette Committee.
With an eye on achieving a Ph.D. in psychology, Capotosto says that one major advantage of studying at Lafayette has been having “the whole psychology department at my fingertips to advise me and give me direction. It’s so easy to converse with a professor, whether it be on serious research or career goals.”
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from research conducted with faculty mentors, or under their guidance, at the conference.