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Principal Investigator

Cheryl R. Kaiser, Ph.D.

Cheryl Kaiser’s research explores psychological aspects of prejudice, stereotypes, identity, and diversity, and the intersection of these topics with law, politics, and policy. Current projects explore how well-intentioned organizational diversity initiatives create unintended consequences, including the perpetuation of discrimination, minority stress, reactance among majority groups, and the miscarriage of civil rights laws. She also explores how prototypes of women obscure perceptions of sexual harassment, to the detriment of victims of harassment, organizations, and civil rights laws. Cheryl’s research been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation. Cheryl is a recipient of the SAGE Young Scholars Award, the James McKeen Cattell Sabbatical Award, and SPSSI’s Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize.

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Z. Ferguson, M.S.

Z is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate and received their B.A. in Cognitive Science, with a minor in Comparative Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. They're interested in studying how intersectional identities impact our lives, as well as how biases are created and maintained in larger systems (e.g., education, legal contexts). Their current projects focus on legal bias against sexual harassment victims, supporting formerly incarerated parents, and prototypes of nonbinary individuals.

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Rebecca Schachtman, M.S.

Rebecca is a 4th year Ph.D. student and received her BA in psychology with honors from Lawrence University. Her research investigates how stereotypes create and reinforce biases in responses to sexual harassment. She is especially interested in bystander intervention and how sexual harassment trainings can be designed to disrupt biases.

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MJ Schneider

MJ is a 1st year Ph.D. student and received their BA in Psychology, with honors from the University of San Francisco. MJ is interested in how people change through major life transitions (i.e. incarceration, grief, gender transitions, new relationships, etc) and what is central to self-concept. They approach this question theoretically, and in applied research with under-represented groups, particularly carceral systems, and trans and queer communities. Their past research has examined mental simulation and memory using natural language processing and neuroimaging techniques.

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