Join the Lab!
(PhD, Undergrad, Postdoc)

Q: What is your lab studying?

A: My lab studies diversity & inclusion with a focus on prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination.  Often (but not always!), we apply the lens of social cognition — how people process, remember, and apply information to understand the social world around them. However, that is not to say that we limit ourselves to a social-cognitive perspective or a single family of methods. What’s primary is the research question. If the research question demands a different set of methodological tools or analysis methods, we’ll get our hands dirty and find out how to do it.

Many of the projects in our lab focus on intervening on subtle or hidden forms of prejudice and discrimination. One line of  that research concerns subtle or hidden intergroup bias: its structure, its relation to behavior, and when it can be intentionally changed. Another line focuses on directly intervening on discriminatory behaviors. That has included studies on procedural changes to prevent hiring discrimination, diversity training in organizations, and empowering people to speak up about sexism.

We have provided links to our papers on our lab website and you can follow our lab on Twitter (@calvinklai) to learn about breaking research news from the lab. Here are a sample of research questions our lab is tackling this academic year:

1. How do people self-regulate their biases over time?

2. Does a police diversity training program change officers’ beliefs, attitudes, and behavior to be more racially equitable? 

3. How do the racial prejudice of law enforcement professionals compare to the general population?

4. How are biases embedded in AI-based large language models like ChatGPT?

5. When are stereotypes about national origin similar to stereotypes about race/ethnicity, and when do they diverge?

Q: What is your lab’s approach to scientific reproducibility and outreach?

A: Our lab is committed to scientific reproducibility. Amost all of our lab’s data, analyses, and research materials are posted at the Open Science Framework, and almost all of our studies are pre-registered. My aim is to accept students who strive to do research in accordance with scientific values, even when the result of their findings may go against their personal or political interests. If done correctly, science rarely gives us the answer that we want, but will always bring us closer to the truth.

Our lab is also active with scientific outreach. We do not wish to publish science solely for sake of career advancement or scientific reputation. In our vision, the best research is the kind that contributes to an advance in basic knowledge and provides insight into psychological application. The gap between public and scientific discourse on issues of diversity can be quite large, and part of our ethical mandate is to ensure that social scientific knowledge gets shared in a responsible and accurate manner. I hope you share our passion for this vision!

Q: What should I know about applying to Rutgers?