Michael W. Kraus
@mwkraus
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Not the German handball player or the historian. The other one. @BerkeleyPsych alum and social psychologist. | he/him
Evanston, IL (2024)
Joined May 2009
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Send us removal request.
Some news: yesterday I learned that, by faculty vote, my bid for tenure/promotion was not approved.
I feel many things, but not shame or regret. I am so proud of our work during our time at yale, and angry that this version of that work will come to an end, this end.
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Hey new followers!
If you are here for the tenure denial announcements, well, I'm hoping not to have to do that again...so.... 😬
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I'm the dude.
Academia is broken if a dude with 10,000 citations doesn’t get tenure.
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I will respond to as many messages as I can.
Thank you for carrying this with me tonight. ❤
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That's all for now save one favor: if you are lucky to know any of my students or colleagues they are also dealing with this loss. Reach out to them if you have the bandwidth and thank you!
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It feels lighter having shared this burden in public. I made this yesterday, it helps me to process bad news with a smile and I hope it makes you smile:
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A "research grant" proposal where we just give as many families as possible money during covid and measure how it improves their psychological and economic outcomes.
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I don't really want to talk about GREs in admissions because I'd much rather talk about mentorship. A thread.
The main point is that mentoring a PhD student is more than you may realize.
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Today is my spouse's birthday and also I received some good professional news for the first time since
#TheDecision
.
Good reason to open the sparkling one we've been saving! 🥂
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"most Americans want to live in a society that is more racially equal, and so they engage in mental actions that ignore, discount or downplay contradictory evidence to maintain coherence between belief and reality." my new oped for
@latimes
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@yvonnenphan
the impact we actually have in academia is not bounded by faculty votes or citation counts, it is in the shaping of lives and communities. ❤️
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I should add (pending approval of the NU Board of Trustees): Full, Tenured.
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There has been a happy ending to my journey, I ended up in a better job! That doesn't change how hard the last ~15 months have been (or much of anything, really). I wrote about the mental game of it here:
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Grad students should weigh in on hiring decisions because it is their department too. Best practice would be to include student comments in hiring decisions (and this last part is crucial) without the threat of retaliation.
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To close, I want you to consider the possibility that you could be the mentor you needed in grad school. Don't wait for a star to emerge or select based on star pedigrees alone--instead, build the conditions that allow people who don't have it all figured out to be successful.
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I received this note today along with a very gracious declined review request-- it is overwhelming to connect with strangers in this kind of deeply meaningful way.
I suppose I share bc I want all of this to matter, and I'm often unsure (perhaps just like you) that it will.
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POV: the year of your tenure denial is also your most productive year 🫠
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There is no way to "stop considering race in admissions," the only thing you're doing is lying to yourself about it.
BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court rules colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, putting an end to affirmative action in higher education.
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Warriors extending their lead with clutch shots from... <checks notes> ... er, Quinn Cook and Jonas Jerebko.
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But the advice has a lay theory at its core, that if a PhD student struggles it is because they don't have what it takes. That's quite a strong take on a training system with A LOT of built in racism, sexism, and elitism up and down.
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Gutted. Terrible.
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I know a lot of programs are looking to increase their number of BIPOC students/faculty (good!)...
but the ethics of that push without ALSO having a plan for community, support, thriving, retention, & tenure is questionable at best.
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In short, there are a lot of struggles that students have that mentors can help with!
So mentorship is more than seeing if a star emerges from this cohort of grad students. It's fostering someone's scholarly development in a place with many obstacles to success.
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I am grateful to report that in July I'll be an associate professor (untenured).
This is an individual promotion for ~16 years of collective work, partnership, and mentoring. To convey the progression, here is me when I started grad school v. today.
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I really love this study because homeless folks got $7,500. I think more foundations and governments should fund this kind of research in your city b/c local policy will shift impact a lot.
Remember that the biggest impact is that people in need had some $.
I'm beyond proud that our paper "Unconditional cash transfers reduce homelessness" is published at
@PNASNews
today! This is the most ambitious project I've ever done, and it truly took a village for the last 7 years 🥳❤️🧵
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@BrianNosek
Thanks for writing this so much Brian-- sometimes the letters are fantastic but they don't matter.
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Thinking structurally now, mentorship also means taking on more of the structural challenges that PhD students face.
This means supporting their rights as workers. It means doing your part to create a safe work environment. It means a living wage and funding for research.
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In the end, I don't think an optimal pandemic response was missed because behavioral science wasn't funded by nih. Rather, we never really chose public health over profit/production. We're here because of that choice -- more research is actually not necessary.
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This really hit me in the chest: "they’ve suffered from this same cycle of toxic productivity, that is, when the constant need to “do” harmfully impacts your physical, mental, and emotional health."
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Really brief thread about an observation from remote school about loneliness.
In virtual school this AM our daughter (7) shared her blanket with the class. When she did, she said, "you probably won't care about it, but this is my blanket."
1/x
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Despite what your boss, your advisor, your peer, and sometimes even you say: Your well-being comes first.
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My most important work happens 1-on-1 with the talented phd students in our lab. Today I learned they nominated me for an official Yale mentoring award.
I'm beyond the moon grateful for this honor and hope to show, over the course of my career, that I am worthy of it.
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BUt qUaLITy...
Listen, imagine academia filled in 10 years with a bunch of dudes who, in the face of a global pandemic, a wave of police violence, and a rapid erosion of democracy, just sorta put their heads down and cranked on some jpsps.
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Tenure should be about impact, and we don't measure that very well. Citations counts are so limited, for instance, they don't account for that time our research was on Hot Ones (at 11:50)
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This absolutely. Don't play small for them.
Wow. A lesson to do work that makes me feel proud (as Michael has clearly done), because you can do everything to earn what you're owed and still not get it.
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I wrote about the importance of centering the health, wellbeing, and agency of PhD students for
@NatRevPsych
.
Check out the short article for a framing of the problem and some concrete ways you can promote a healthier PhD:
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Psychological science is not race neutral and now you can read about why
@CydneyDupree
and I think so in perspectives:
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One of my most common manuscript comments is that (a) yours is not the first study to look at X, (b) that is fine, and (c) now that novelty is out of the way, let's focus on having a conversation with the literature.
newness is meh and probably untrue
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I want to thank some people 🧵: I want to say thanks to my spouse and kids for enduring all those trips all over the place searching for a new job. Never again!
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Today is January 6th, which is s date we all remember because it is my birthday and not because of anything else...
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The advice also assumes that student struggles are a nuisance to be avoided if possible, and well, I struggled and other students struggled around me, before me, and after me.
They struggled with funding shortages, difficult advisors, racism, sexism, homesickness...
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Remember, the vast majority of Asian Americans support
#affirmativeaction
and will not benefit from its end in higher education.
2) 69% of
#AsianAmerican
registered voters support
#AffirmativeAction
in higher education.
The majority of Asian Americans have consistently supported the policy since 2014.
The vocal minority who oppose affirmative action does not represent nor speak for the majority.
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At some point in the next ~3 years I will need a job! You can find all my job materials on my website, and I will be carefully considering any possibilities that arise:
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New in
@pnasnews
, we (
@BrittTorrez
, Jun Won Park, & Fariba Ghayebi) find that people accurately perceive social class based on very brief speech cues, and that these perceptions have consequences for hiring decisions (a thread).
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Our son G was named a student of the month in his class this month. The teacher said he is always thinking of others and being empathic. Proud moment for us, he is such a champion! ❤️
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Please enjoy "a time to remember" from 1997. It all started 25 years ago today!
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12 years ago today (i remember my face hurt from all the grinning): Congratulations grads!
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My tenure denial turned 2(!) today, what a shitty little brat, but also, happy birthday to this new period in our lives! ✌🏻😎
Some news: yesterday I learned that, by faculty vote, my bid for tenure/promotion was not approved.
I feel many things, but not shame or regret. I am so proud of our work during our time at yale, and angry that this version of that work will come to an end, this end.
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Now online at Perspectives
@PsychScience
: The misperception of racial economic
#inequality
. This one was written with
@ivuoma
,
@natdaum
,
@jruck_psych
, and
@jaricheson
: 1/x
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First news story about the case (I declined comment):
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How race influences perceptions of objectivity and hiring preferences:
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I am looking for a postdoc to study APIDA racism experiences with us. You can find the job ad here (please share with interested people):
Caveat: the situation here is great in some ways (research, people) and suboptimal in others (we're leaving).
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I think we're right in the middle of the academic job market for many disciplines. One thing I've noticed over the years is that people don't prepare enough for the q&a portion of the job talk. Some opinions follow:
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The appeal was always most likely to go this way. Despite this it was important for me to play the process thru -- my family has made a life here and so I owed them every mechanism available to try to stay. We close this chapter knowing we tried. They're everything.
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Tonight, we're celebrating our 24th dating anniversary. Here is us in high school. ❤🥂
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Excited to announce that we still haven't decided where to move next. It turns out that it takes a while to choose where to move our family!
Once we do make a decision I will say so -- that way you won't have to guess or speculate. 😎
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My time at yale som was a success: The work that
@jaricheson
,
@CydneyDupree
,
@JWL_Park
,
@BrittTorrez
,
@jruck_psych
,
@Ivuoma
,
@Sakiera_Hudson
,
@xannibrown
,
@AjuaDuker
, and
@natdaum
did together is the best work I've EVER done. We'll keep doing it somewhere else.
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It has been a long year, and we are excited for the summer. Thrilled to announce that I've finally signed!
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I'm excited to share a new paper led by
@britttorrez
, now in press at American Psychologist, and with
@LaStarrHollie
and
@jaricheson
The Misperception of Organizational Racial Progress Toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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I just spent a lot more time than anyone should on this .gif and all I can say is I ReGreT nOThING!!!
Misperception of the Black-White
#WealthGap
across time, grey diamonds show the actual gap according to the fed. Preprint:
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Social and Personality Psychology Faculty Statement on Student Protests for Justice in Palestine (a 🧵with my thoughts)
S-P Faculty can add your name here:
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Mentoring is also your vision for our future.
Imagine how much more just the field would be if folks actually took the affirmative step with their URM PhD applicants (particularly given how noisy academic success is).
You don't need the GRE's permission to do this!!!
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Remote school has made a lot of kids (including our own) feel uneasy about themselves and their relationships with other kids. I was grateful today for this important lesson-- that sometimes it matters to us because it matters to you. 4/end
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My lab group is discussing mental health in the context of pursuing your PhD (prevalence, maintenance, seeking help, advisor/advisee boundaries). Please share any advice, questions, or wisdom in replies.
I will be making our lab's mental health manual and will share!
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Our big announcement is here: Thrilled to welcome
@thtswatShaysaid
to this year at Yale and then next at TBD University (🤫).
We'll be working together on our
@RussellSageFdn
grant on Asian racism.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Vinluan!
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I dunno about you, but to me a request to revise-and-resubmit your field study manuscript requiring a brand new field study in the revision is not actually an invitation to revise...👋
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A dissertation is such a monumental scholarly achievement, especially in these circumstances. Congratulations all of you defending right now and keep going all of you on your way! 🤓🎓
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@NeilLewisJr
Fun lil story about my untenured assoc review in '19: the feedback for this paper was "temper your language, the claims are too strong"
But none of the people making these suggestions study racism so why would I listen when Jennifer fucking Richeson co-wrote this with me?
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I had a tiny little writing project (that I am very passionate about) accepted for publication today.
I hope you enjoy it when it is published. In the meantime, cheers! 🥂
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The review timeline could be on the scale of weeks, in the meantime if you would like to do something in support of this you could consider signing the student petition: ()
or the academic one: ()
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I am so grateful to the students and academics who brought themselves to this fight. It's inspiring to see you all use your voices in this way and I won't ever forget this. Solidarity.❤️✊🏻
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Surviving while Black by James Jones -- "This autobiographical essay traces my personal journey from grandson of a slave to a cultural psychologist examining racism."
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Thinking about this paper today on increasing faculty diversity:
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Remember, progress toward a more equitable society (like spsp) is never going to be automatic, linear, always forward moving, or free from backlash.
But, it will always be a multi-gen-spanning project that many of us participate in (and benefit from). I hope you will join us!
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