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A double major in art and psychology, Julie Phelan ’05 (Westfield, N.J.) has been conducting research on how students’ evaluations of professors are influenced by the gender of the professor and the student. She is co-authoring an article about the project with her mentor that will be submitted to an academic journal for publication.
Under the guidance of Susan Basow, Dana Professor of Psychology, Phelan is using data from a University of California at Santa Cruz study that asked students to describe their best and worst professors. Questions in the study were all open-ended, says Phelan, who is working to analyze the results.
“I am particularly interested in gender patterns: whether male or female professors are more likely to be chosen as ‘best’ or ‘worst,’ and whether they are described differently by their male and female students,” Basow explains.
Phelan and Basow are working through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students assist faculty with research while earning a stipend. Lafayette is a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate in EXCEL each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
Phelan says that her role in the project is to “code the data — grouping similar comments from students into the same category.” The research is a practical application of the techniques she has learned through her psychology classes at Lafayette.
“Coding and interpreting data as well as writing up the results further my familiarity with the [American Psychological Association] style, which is important both for my thesis and for graduate school,” she says. “The project also helps me to explore what aspects of psychology I may want to pursue in the future.”
Phelan would like to attend graduate school to study psychology and later complete a doctorate in clinical psychology. She hopes to teach psychology at the college level.
“Lafayette provides an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to do the kind of work that at universities would be done by graduate students,” Basow says. “The EXCEL program allows students to make a meaningful contribution [to the research]. I consider the program one of the highlights of a Lafayette education.”
Phelan enjoys working closely with Basow.
“Professor Basow is encouraging and helpful both with this project and as my adviser,” she says. “She also takes personal interest in me and my education.”
“Julie is a fabulous student and research assistant,” Basow says. “I’ve had a hard time keeping up with her! She takes her responsibilities seriously, and has made some excellent suggestions regarding the data coding.”
“I am involved in both the psychology and art departments and I have had many opportunities outside the classroom, as well as many great experiences within,” says Phelan.
She has been a teacher’s assistant and a psychology lab assistant for Basow and was on the executive board of the Arts Society. She also participates in club field hockey.
She is a graduate of Westfield High School.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Forty-two students have been accepted to present their work at the next annual conference in April.