By Addison Beer, Yale College Class of 2023, Summer 2020 Intern with SeeTheGaps. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, recent unavailability of admissions tests and economic uncertainty has caused many colleges in the United States to move to a test-optional application cycle; some for the next...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="15842" img_size="medium" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]Many immigrants and those living paycheck-to-paycheck do not have access to or use the banking system. They instead rely on cash checking services and payday loans that charge exorbitant fees. Prepaid debit card...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Publicity-grabbing media headlines about scientific findings are often quite different than, and miss important nuances of, the research studies they summarize. Take an oft-cited thesis: friendships lead to good health, long life, and happiness. See, e.g., How Social...
[vc_row row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" css_animation=""][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="15342" img_size="medium" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text][infogram id="9391d7c4-f0df-42d5-aec6-3977605e4aa9" prefix="9Ro"] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]Obstetric medicine focuses on the health of the pregnant mother, often uncovering issues that pre-date pregnancy and that are likely to affect the mother after the birth of the child. ...
[vc_row row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" css_animation=""][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="15548" img_size="medium" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]Not expression in terms of emotional feeling manifestation, but gene expression. I am talking about the fields of epigenetics and sociogenomics and how they enhance our understanding of the effects of environmental...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="15242" img_size="medium" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text][infogram][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]Where to start with this topic. From rates of force experienced in police encounters [STAT] (from non-fatal to media-grabbing fatal ones), to the percentage of prison versus public population {STAT], to the...
What's it like to be on a college campus these days as an African-American? Or as a first-generation college student from a low-income family? Students from these groups experience college very differently than their white, middle-class peers. [NYTimes article about U Tex] http://hechingerreport.org/the-socioeconomic-divide-on-americas-college-campuses-is-getting-wider-fast/ Many of these...
We are at the beginning edge of a burgeoning intersection area for genetics and social science. Some scientists take the view that in gene-environment research, it is not the environment that reflects genetic effects, but that due to “population stratification” these measured behavioral trait genes “may be acting as proxies for social environments.” “[G]enes shape not just behavior, but also the environment that contextualizes and constrains behavioral choices” citing Plomin & Bergeman (1991). Critics like Conley argue that many of the studied gene-environment relationships are more associational than causative or even correlative, and that it is impossible to study the effect of one gene in isolation due to the complexity of the gene-gene interactions in humans and the variety across the global population .
More studies need to be done to test correlations and effect size in other, larger, and more diverse sample groups. Genetics research is just starting to identify the polygenic components related to intelligence, only accounting for less than five percent of variations in measured intelligence. See [Skiekers et al., Genome-wide association meta-analysis]. Questions arise such as: What kinds of environmental factors translate to epigenetic markers that in turn affect academic and other kinds of measured achievement? How can the effects of positive genetic markers be enhanced for children born into lower privileged families? For children with lower polygenic scores, how can interventions help reduce cognitive and other differentials between them and children born with higher polygenic scores? What are the ethical implications of knowing whether a child has these genetic markers?
Why is it that “low-birth-weight black infants have a lower mortality rate than low-birth-weight white infants” even though the prevalence of low-birth rate infants is much higher for black mothers than it is for white mothers, even with similar education levels? What other factors are not being controlled for in studies that find gaps based on race? What is it about being black that contributes to higher infant mortality rates?
Many prenatal factors that effect how a child develops in the womb also can contribute to predisposition and ability to learn and read. Poverty and race have strong correlations with low birth-weight, which can lead to infant mortality or later cognitive developmental and health issues. Scientists are discovering that it no longer takes generations for humans to change based on environmental factors (pollution, type of food availability, etc.). They are finding that environmental effects, like the stress of living in extreme poverty and constant racism, can cause changes in the fundamental genetic composition of humans within a single generation. The study of these effects is called epigenetics.
Research is also developing to better understand the genetic correlates for intelligence, measured by test scores, academic attainment, and socioeconomic outcome.
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