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Theo Masters-Waage

@masterswaage.bsky.social
71 followers 138 following 56 posts

Incoming research scientist at UC Merced. Living my dream of being a nomadic psychologist, studying group decision making with location, time, and intellectual freedom.

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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Thank you for sharing our work. To underline, in joint evaluation Black and Hispanic faculty received 9% fewer negative votes... pretty good for a nudge!
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
How can we address racial disparities in promotion and tenure? In our NEW PAPER published in Nature Communications (www.nature.com/articles/s41...), we show that evaluating candidates simultaneously (i.e., joint evaluation) shrinks the race gap in departmental negative votes from 10% to 1%.
nature.com
Evaluating multiple candidates simultaneously reduces racial disparities in promotion and tenure - Nature Communications
Past work has found that Black and Hispanic faculty are judged more harshly in promotion and tenure. Here, evidence from a natural experiment shows that evaluating faculty simultaneously with other ca...
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Lydia Jennings, PhD @1nativesoilnerd.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
The paper highlights actionable steps to help improve these double standards, including more RESEARCH RELATED LANGUAGE in P &T letters for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous women to improve their outcomes.
nature.com
Underrepresented minority faculty in the USA face a double standard in promotion and tenure decisions - Nature Human Behaviour
Masters-Waage et al. report that underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in the USA face barriers in the promotion and tenure process, receiving more negative votes and fewer unanimous positive decisi...
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Kevin Kniffin @kevinkniffin.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Six talks in 90 minutes last week at #aom2025 offered lots of valuable + efficient + international exchange on “New Insights into the Science of Science and Scientists” Big thx to co-organizer @masterswaage.bsky.social (pic) & presenters incl @inaganguli.bsky.social w full roster in pics
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Dheepa Sundaram, PhD (she/her) @themodsisyphus.bsky.social · 06/10/2024
Important read: “In sum, the results support the double standard hypothesis and provide evidence that different outcomes in P&T decision-making processes contribute to the sustained underrepresentation of URM faculty in tenured faculty positions.” www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Underrepresented minority faculty in the USA face a double standard in promotion and tenure decisions
Theodore Masters-Waage, Christiane
Spitzmueller, ... Juan Madera M
+ Show authors
Nature Human Behaviour (2024) | Cite this article
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Abstract
Underrepresented minority (URM) faculty face challenges in many domains of academia, from university admissions to grant applications. We examine whether this11:19
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Underrepresented minority (URM) faculty face challenges in many domains of academia, from university admissions to grant applications. We examine whether this translates to promotion and tenure (P&T) decisions. Data from five US universities on 1,571 faculty members' P&T decisions show that URM faculty received 7% more negative votes and were 44% less likely to receive unanimous votes from P&T committees. A double standard in how scholarly productivity is rewarded is also observed, with below-average h-indexes being judged more harshly for URM faculty than for non-URM faculty. This relationship is amplified for faculty with intersectional backgrounds, especially URM women. The differential treatment of URM women was mitigated…11:23
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especially URM women. The differential treatment of URM women was mitigated when external reviewers highlighted candidates' scholarship more in their review
letters. In sum, the results support the double standard hypothesis and provide evidence that different outcomes in P&T
decision-making processes contribute to the sustained underrepresentation of URM faculty in tenured faculty positions.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/10/2024
“the results support the double standard hypothesis and provide evidence that different outcomes in P&T decision-making processes contribute to the sustained underrepresentation of URM faculty in tenured faculty positions”
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Thank you for sharing our research on this timely issue!
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Ed Rivera-Valentín @planettreky.bsky.social · 06/10/2024
Underrepresented minority faculty in the USA face a double standard in promotion and tenure decisions www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Underrepresented minority faculty in the USA face a double standard in promotion and tenure decisions - Nature Human Behaviour
Masters-Waage et al. report that underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in the USA face barriers in the promotion and tenure process, receiving more negative votes and fewer unanimous positive decisi...
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jjfrey3md.bsky.social @jjfrey3md.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Why can't a man be more like a woman?......."Women advocates and men critics: How referees' gender influences candidates' likelihood of receiving a promotion" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @aafp.bsky.social @adfm.bsky.social @aafp.bsky.social @adfm.bsky.social
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Promotion and tenure (P&T) systems rely on external evaluations by arms-length reviewers. Here we find that gender influences the content of these letters... So much so that P&T candidates with more women letter writers were more likely to receive tenure! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Women advocates and men critics: How referees' gender influences candidates' likelihood of receiving a promotion
External review letters (ERLs) play a critical role in the promotion and tenure (P&T) process. However, recently, scholars have questioned their valid…
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Cause we just have to do anything we can... Please sign: sign.moveon.org/petitions/de...
sign.moveon.org
Defend the science and scientists that keep the public safe!
Please join science supporters, scientists, and experts in signing an open letter asking Congress to stand up against attempts to politicize or eliminate scientific roles, agencies, and federal resear...
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Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Nature Editorial Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere. US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Sounds a lot like Gerd Gigerenzer... Decision biases are not flaws, they are adaptations that work well in the environment they were designed for, but not when applied to new domains. Great to see that people are adjusting their use of these Fast-and-Frugal heuristics to the environment though!
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
“Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.”
nytimes.com
Staffing was ‘not normal’ at airport tower, according to a preliminary F.A.A. report.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Completely agree, in times of uncertainty focus on evidence. Our Center is trying to do this for racial inequities in promotion and tenure. We have evidence identifying the problem: www.nature.com/articles/s41... We have two papers under review examining solutions: [Preprints Soon]
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
This account is for sharing info with US scientists, both extramural and intramural to NIH, about attacks on science in the US. Education is power, and we can help advocate for science and medicine together. 💪🧪 We are a team of NIH people. Please ask us questions you might have.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
One thing critics of diversity initiatives (including DEI) fail to understand is that the goal is NOT to support minorities at the cost of majority group members. Very often it is about improving a SYSTEM in ways that benefits minorities without influencing outcomes for non-minorities.
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Isaac Dovere @isaacdovere.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Buttigieg’s response to Trump vis Twitter, on multiple levels:
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Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Somewhere in the U.S., there’s a scientist staring at their NSF/NIH grant application wondering why they bother. This post is for you. Science and society both need you. Hang in there and know there is a whole community supporting you.
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Krystal Vasquez @kvasquez.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Posting this update since a lot of researchers follow me here. As to what this actually means for NSF grants, I have no clue yet. Source: new.nsf.gov/executive-or...

Message to the NSF principal investigator community

Jan. 29, 2025

Our top priority is resuming our funding actions and services to the research community and our stakeholders. We are working expeditiously to conduct a comprehensive review of our projects, programs and activities to be compliant with the existing executive orders.

We will continue to try and communicate with you as these changes are happening in real time.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Those poor #tenure-track faculty who had #COVID and this... A lot of considerations to take into account in those tenure decisions... From my research on over 2,000 promotion and tenure decisions my guess is it will only harm their chances.
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 29/01/2025
This is my favorite picture of Stonewall. They knew they were getting arrested just for being LGBTQ+. Yet... they're still here, standing outside of the boarded up Stonewall Inn, smiling as the world was at a fever pitch of hatred against them. I think about it a lot in moments like this.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Just outrageous! I hope the @bsky.app academic community can be the catalyst for an academic revolt against these journals. We hold all the power, we just fail to coordinate. Can't we just create our own public-domain journals called [JournalName]_1 and mentally transfer the prestige??
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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Polarization has become a serious threat to shared reality, democracy, and even health "Thousands of people were dying needlessly because they didn’t trust medical advice, or their government, or mainstream media” Reducing partisan animosity is doable, but tricky: www.pnas.org/doi/epub/10....
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Nature @nature.com · 27/01/2025
A group of scientists who are experts at spotting fraudulent research outline five essential steps to combat industrialized scientific misconduct go.nature.com/4h78aSw
go.nature.com
‘Stamp out paper mills’ — science sleuths on how to fight fake research
A group of scientists who are experts at spotting fraudulent research outline five essential steps to combat industrialized scientific misconduct.
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Nature @nature.com · 24/01/2025
Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X go.nature.com/42tH8Ai
go.nature.com
Bluesky’s science takeover: 70% of Nature poll respondents use platform
Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X.
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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.uk · 24/01/2025
Is this for real? Native Americans are not citizens by birth ... because ... 19th century? Did they really really argue that? Where do they find lawyers like that? www.yahoo.com/news/excludi...
yahoo.com
"Excluding Indians": Trump admin questions Native Americans' birthright citizenship in court
The Trump admin is leaning on a pre-14th Amendment law in its fight to redefine birthright citizenship
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Maya Sen @mayasen.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Article focuses on corporations but the Trump anti-DEI directive applies to universities w large endowments as well each agency is being instructed to find 9 entities to investigate IMHO universities and faculty are not prepared for this - it could get very ugly! www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/b...
nytimes.com
Trump’s D.E.I. Order Causes ‘Chaos’ Among Corporate Leaders
The executive order signals that private businesses and organizations could be investigated over their diversity policies.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Conversations with others around DEI often result in them asking: "What's your agenda" There is no agenda and no opinion. Racial bias is an evidence-based scientific phenomenon that has major ramifications for the social world. We all need to understand it and we all need to combat it.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22/01/2025
i have to assume that “pursuing DEI efforts” means hiring anyone who isn’t a white man?
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Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Important context for the NASA anti-DEI email that is circulating (and perhaps other agency emails).
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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Do monkeys recognize themselves in the mirror? Depends on if they're captive or wild, a study suggests. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🙈
This baboon doesn’t seem to notice the green dot when it's only visible in the mirror.  Credit: Alecia Carter
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Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Now that I’ve finally got a woke mob I really want to unleash them on the for-profit academic journal industry 😅. #openscience yall
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Chris Vagasky @coweatherman.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
This is the first time a Blizzard Warning has been issued along the Gulf Coast
Map showing the last time a blizzard warning was issued by each NWS forecast office
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Well, the policy makers and department chairs believe that academics can. But when those faculty members on the committee walk into a P&T meeting faced with a tough decision, I bet they resort back to counting citation and grant $$. That's the easy way out!
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Kevin M. King @kevinmking.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Look at this! Apparently academics can think more deeply about our values than just counting citation and grant $$.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
This is a great initiative. However, our research on over 2,000 P&T decisions at the Center for Equity in Faculty Advancement (CEFA) shows it is extremely hard to align committee's decisions with policy. As long as decisions are anonymous, decision maker are only accountable to their own whims.
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Nature @nature.com · 20/01/2025
The US federal government can harness science to secure the health, prosperity and safety of Americans and the world go.nature.com/4gbgsrg
go.nature.com
Dear Donald Trump: A letter from Nature on how to make science thrive
The US federal government can harness science to secure the health, prosperity and safety of Americans and the world.
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Great article. This will be a loss to the US but more importantly a loss to the world as #science when do right is for the global good. I guess the #resistance starts tomorrow!
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Krystal Vasquez @kvasquez.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
With less than 24 hours until the Inauguration, I justed want to re-share something I wrote recently about how Trump's future immigration policy could impact folks in chem. #ChemSky cen.acs.org/policy/Trump...
cen.acs.org
Trump’s immigration policy could affect chemistry students and workers
Possible immigration priorities may include travel bans and increased visa denial rates
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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
A survey of #Tiktok users found that most of them would literally pay money to have the platform deactivated. People feel socially compelled to use these addictive platforms, despite how awful it makes them feel. A TikTok ban prove surprisingly popular once it’s gone. www.nber.org/system/files...
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Nature @nature.com · 17/01/2025
Latest from the Nature Careers Podcast 🔊 How to be a brilliant ally to your neurodivergent lab mate go.nature.com/40doFFu
go.nature.com
How to be a brilliant ally to your neurodivergent lab mate
Two researchers, one with bipolar disorder and ADHD, the other with autism, discuss supportive workplaces, building networks, and how and when to disclose diagnoses.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 16/01/2025
rewatching FIGHT CLUB this week i was very struck by how a movie that is very plainly a critique of this vision of masculinity was taken up as a valorization of it
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Theo Masters-Waage @masterswaage.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
I think as scientists and researchers we need to be mindful of who we give our great ideas to. One of my favourite things about academics is that they could probably all be earning more money working for a company, but they don't. All hail intrinsic motivation.
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