The Stereotype Content Model hypothesizes anti-Asian American stereotypes differentiating two dimensions: (excessive) competence and (deficient) sociability. The Scale of Anti-Asian American Stereotypes (SAAAS) shows this envious mixed prejudice in six studies. Study 1 began with 131 racial attitude items. Studies 2 and 3 tested 684 respondents on a focused 25-item version. Studies 4 and 5 tested the final 25-item SAAAS on 222 respondents at three campuses; scores predicted outgroup friendships, cultural experiences, and (over)estimated campus presence. Study 6 showed that allegedly low sociability, rather than excessively high competence, drives rejection of Asian Americans, consistent with system justification theory. The SAAAS demonstrates mixed, envious anti-Asian American prejudice, contrasting with more-often-studied contemptuous racial prejudices (i.e., against Blacks).

Targeting four institutions with structured science research programs for undergraduates, this study focuses on how underrepresented students experience science. Several key themes emerged from focus group discussions: learning to become research scientists, experiences with the culture of science, and views on racial and social stigma. Participants spoke of essential factors for becoming a scientist, but their experiences also raised complex issues about the role of race and social stigma in scientific training. Students experienced the collaborative and empowering culture of science, exhibited strong science identities and high self-efficacy, while developing directed career goals as a result of “doing science” in these programs.

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Using longitudinal data from the UCLA Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and Your First College Year (YFCY) surveys, this study examines predictors of the likelihood that science-oriented students would participate in a health science undergraduate research program during the first year of college. The key predictors of participation in health science research programs are students' reliance on peer networks and whether campuses provide structured opportunities for first-year students even though only 12% of freshmen in the sample engaged in this activity. These experiences are particularly important for Black students. The findings inform efforts to orient students at an early stage, particularly under-represented minorities, toward biomedical and behavioral science research careers.

In 2006, the U.S. Congress held numerous hearings about why a smaller proportion of undergraduates than in the past are undertaking studies in physical and life sciences. Those concerns are driven in part by interests in preserving the nation's economic competitiveness and position in technological leadership. Some legislators have called the U.S. science pipeline "leakier than warped rubber tubing" (Epstein, 2006, p. 1). Indeed, roughly half of undergraduates who show an initial interest in majoring in the sciences decide to major in other fields within their first two years of study, and very few non-science majors switch to science majors (Center for Institutional Data Exchange and Analysis [C-IDEA], 2000). The rates of science major completion for underrepresented racial minority students (African American, Latina/o, and American Indian) are even more dismal. Looking at degree attainment, only 24% of underrepresented students complete a bachelor's degree in science within six years of college entry, as compared to 40% of White students (C-IDEA, 2000). Moreover, the Sullivan Commission (2004) reported that the gap in participation rates between underrepresented racial minority (URM) students and their White and Asian American peers widens at the graduate and professional school levels. In Nelson's (2004) listings of earned doctorates, for example, she reported that between the years 1993 and 2002, African Americans accounted for only 2.6% of earned doctorates in biological sciences, whereas Latinos accounted for 3.6%. For 2002, the report indicated only 122 African Americans and 178 Latinos received doctorates in biological sciences compared to 3,114 Whites and 580 Asian Americans. When considering future generations of scientists and healthcare professionals, the Sullivan Commission declared under-represented minorities to be "missing persons" in those fields. Retention of science majors at the earliest stages of undergraduate education, particularly those who are URM students, is a crucial step to purposefully reverse these trends. The purpose of this study is to go beyond explanations of preparation to examine the social and contextual factors, including racial experiences, that affect persistence in or departure from pursuing a biomedical or behavioral science (BBS) major during the first year of college for URM students. Our goal is to address several explanations regarding why URMs depart from BBS majors at higher rates and the concerns raised about our nation's capacity to fulfill our science-related interests, especially as they relate to the growth of racial/ethnic minority populations in U.S. society. Because the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is especially concerned with BBS undergraduate majors, we focus specifically on them for this study.