School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences

A new study co-authored by MIT Prof. Susan Silbey examines why female students leave the field of engineering. When the researchers analyzed "more than 40 engineering students’ twice-monthly diaries, they found that female students often felt marginalized during group activities,” Inside Higher Ed reports. 

Writing for The Huffington Post, Richard Freed highlights a study by MIT researchers that found that a student’s academic performance tends to decline when personal computing technology is available. The researchers “compared West Point students’ final exam scores for those who used personal computers and tablets in class to those who didn’t.” 

A new study by MIT researchers finds that student use of personal computing technology in classrooms has a negative effect on academic performance, reports Richard Adams for The Guardian. “The researchers suggested that removing laptops and iPads from classes was the equivalent of improving the quality of teaching,” writes Adams. 

Tech reporters Drew Bent and Katherine Nazemi speak with MIT President L. Rafael Reif about the MIT Campaign for a Better World. “We want to be as strong as we can, but for a purpose, and the purpose is to do something good for the world,” says Reif. “That’s very uniquely MIT.”

Jeff Guo of The Washington Post reports on Prof. David Autor’s research examining the academic achievement gap between boys and girls. “It’s well known that young women have surpassed young men in schooling but what struck us was that these gaps vary so much across race and socioeconomic status,” says Autor.

Salon reporter Allegra Kirkland reports on a study co-authored by MIT Professor Chris Warshaw that examined the political leanings of cities across America. The researchers found that “ideology has tangible effects on policy at the municipal level,” Kirkland writes. 

Professor M. Taylor Fravel speaks with Edward Wong of The New York Times about the controversial new maps released by the Chinese military that display disputed regions with India as Chinese. Fravel argues the maps “get undue attention, as they almost always reaffirm existing claims rather than depict new ones.”

Writing for The Washington Post, Hunter Schwartz reports on new findings concerning municipal governments from Professor Chris Warshaw. Schwartz writes that the study found, “Even cities with governments designed to be less partisan, with institutions like nonpartisan elections and professional managers instead of elected mayors, are in line with residents’ political beliefs.”

The Economist highlights a new study by Prof. Chris Warshaw that analyzed how accurately the policies of local leaders reflect their constituents’ views. “They found that the most ideologically liberal cities end up spending twice per capita as much as the most conservative cities, have higher taxes and less regressive tax systems,” The Economist reports. 

Sam Sturgis of CityLab examines a new study by MIT Professor Chris Warshaw that shows that municipal governments, regardless of their structure, tend to mirror the ideological preferences of their electorate. The researchers, “aggregated a collection of nationwide survey results to determine the political leanings of 1,600 U.S. cities and towns,” Sturgis writes.