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Change, Technically

Dr. Ashley Juavinett and Dr. Cat Hicks

Ashley Juavinett, PhD and Cat Hicks, PhD explore technical skills, the science of innovation, STEM pathways, and our beliefs about who gets to be technical—so you can be a better leader and we can all build a better future.

Ashley, a neuroscientist, and Cat, a psychologist for software teams, tell stories of change from classrooms to workplaces.

Also, they're married.

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  • 20 episodes
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  • Avg 41 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • August 5 · 40 min

    Dopamine, misunderstood

    Are we addicted to talking about dopamine? In this episode, we tackle dopamine hype with real science: what dopamine is doing in the brain, how we study it, and how it's been misunderstood. ---- SHOW NOTES two articles tackling dopamine nation: https://awjuliani.medium.com/beyond-dopamine-nation-towards-a-fuller-picture-of-addiction-and-recovery-97b37e17235e https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/opinion/addiction-dopamine-brain-chemistry.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yVA.uvbi.PVfFQMzMudvb&smid=url-share other great takes on this topic: mark humphries "the crimes against dopamine" https://medium.com/the-spike/the-crimes-against-dopamine-b82b082d5f3d https://youtu.be/HZRGWPLeMIg?si=Ponb7AagEa4QN2BY things that cause dopamine release, as studied with PET: video games https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9607763/ music https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2726 yes, cocaine https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9331351/ (relatedly, nora volkow's work: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18617195/) not just reward in isolation https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922009521 more papers that fueled the sciency talk here: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.061604.135722 https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1513619112 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1014269108 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32974872/ songs covered in the episode: "dopamine" by robyn https://youtu.be/vitil9qMN6A?si=mMu1FliQP4-6QSIE "dopamine" by madelline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upy4rB8V3T4 ---- Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • May 7 · 59 min

    You have bad mental models of learning

    You can find the talk Cat gave about learning and its citations here: https://github.com/DrCatHicks/tailscale_talk On beliefs about humans being more genetically dissimilar than they are, work primarily done by Brian Donovan: Donovan et al. (2024). "Humane genomics education can reduce racism." Science, 383(6685), 818–822. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi7895 Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S2 · E5
    March 30 · 51 min

    You can write a book

    📚 PREVIEW CAT'S BOOK, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOFTWARE TEAMS! Pre-orders will be available in June. https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Software-Teams/Hicks/p/book/9781032963389 📝 EPISODE NOTES Jeff Shreve's Substack that Ashley mentions in the beginning https://jeffshreve.substack.com/ Ashley is not linking anything about the reiki on rats paper here because she doesn't want that paper to get more hits than warranted but she *does* you to see the figure from it and has put it here for your viewing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WQGGjh2VT87XbbmaqdK2g7tyyknzwr6s/view?usp=sharing Cat read a couple of papers about creativity for this episode, including: Inspired by Distraction: Mind Wandering Facilitates Creative Incubation and Innovation Relies on the Obscure: A Key to Overcoming the Classic Problem of Functional Fixedness Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S2 · E4
    February 16 · 36 min

    You can learn with AI

    Can people learn in the AI era? Ashley and Cat think so. We talk about Ashley's experiences teaching programming and co-designing WITH students (not against them) to create shared classroom norms around AI, and about the metacognitive skills that Cat is sharing with the software teams and developers she works with to bring a "dynamic textbook" approach to using AI to build understanding, not degrade it. Cat's Learning Opportunities Claude Skill, with a scientific reference list to the effects we also talk about in this episode, can be found here: https://github.com/DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities Cat also wrote a recent piece about the complexity of measuring the impact of AI in Software Organizations: https://www.fightforthehuman.com/how-not-to-measure-the-roi-from-ai-in-your-software-organization/ Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S2 · E3
    February 9 · 15 min

    Know your neighbors

    This isn't the episode we planned, but it's what is on our minds right now. We talk about the power of knowing your neighbors and a few ways in which we've found solace and meaning in building our local community. Here's a glimpse into our playbook -- tell us about yours in the comments. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S2 · E2
    Dec 22, 2025 · 51 min

    Math is for girls

    The story from Janet Hyde about her motivations to get a grant and "fight with data" can be found here: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/janet-shibley-hyde-sinks-stereotypes-with-data Cat summarizes a ton of research for this episode. Key citations, most of which contain large literature reviews themselves: Adamecz-Völgyi, A., Jerrim, J., Pingault, J. B., & Shure, N. (2023). Overconfident boys: The gender gap in mathematics self-assessment. Brescoll, V. L., Dawson, E., & Uhlmann, E. L. (2010). Hard won and easily lost: The fragile status of leaders in gender-stereotype-incongruent occupations. Psychological Science, 21(11), 1640-1642. Carr, M., Jessup, D. L., & Fuller, D. (1999). Gender differences in first-grade mathematics strategy use: Parent and teacher contributions. Journal for research in mathematics education, 30(1), 20-46. Del Toro, J., Legette, K., Christophe, N. K., Pasco, M., Miller-Cotto, D., & Wang, M. T. (2024). When ethnic–racial discrimination from math teachers spills over and predicts the math adjustment of nondiscriminated adolescents: The mediating role of math classroom climate perceptions. Developmental psychology. Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., & Linn, M. C. (2010). Cross-national patterns of gender differences in mathematics: a meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 136(1), 103. Gesuelli, K. A., Miller-Cotto, D., & Barbieri, C. A. (2025). Variability in math achievement growth among students with early math learning difficulties and the role of school supports. Journal of Educational Psychology. Hyde, J. S., & Linn, M. C. (2006). Gender similarities in mathematics and science. Science, 314(5799), 599-600. Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A. B., & Williams, C. C. (2008). Gender similarities characterize math performance. Science, 321(5888), 494-495. Hyde, J. S., & Mertz, J. E. (2009). Gender, culture, and mathematics performance. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 106(22), 8801-8807. Hyde, J. S., & Mertz, J. E. (2009). Reply to Crespi: Gender similarities, culture, and mathematics performance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), E103-E103. Hyde, J. S., Bigler, R. S., Joel, D., Tate, C. C., & van Anders, S. M. (2019). The future of sex and gender in psychology: Five challenges to the gender binary. American Psychologist, 74(2), 171. Kane, J. M., & Mertz, J. E. (2012). Debunking myths about gender and mathematics performance. Notices of the AMS, 59(1), 10-21. Lindberg, S. M., Hyde, J. S., Petersen, J. L., & Linn, M. C. (2010). New trends in gender and mathematics performance: a meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 136(6), 1123. Makowski, M. B., Lubienski, S. T., Ganley, C. M., Sianturi, I. A. J., & Hart, S. A. (2025). Gender differences in computation strategies: Evidence across adolescent and adult samples. British Journal of Educational Psychology. Master, A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Cheryan, S. (2021). Gender stereotypes about interests start early and cause gender disparities in computer science and engineering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(48), e2100030118. Miller- Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S2 · E1
    Dec 9, 2025 · 37 min

    Science deserves stories

    First of all, in this episode you'll learn why Ashley has shipped ONE THOUSAND COCKROACHES through the mail. Second of all, Ashley shares about getting scientists to tell stories, taking risks to share knowledge, and doing science communication in places that don't look like a university campus. We talk about work with the following amazing organizations: Guerilla Science SASSY San Diego Caveat NYC If you want more science storytelling in your life, please check out The Story Collider. The recording kits we sent to students were made by Backyard Brains. If you're curious about Ashley's neurobiology lab class, you can learn more about it here. Ashley also wants to give a shout out to the amazing UC San Diego staff who made shipping cockroaches during a global pandemic possible, and who still maintain the ongoing roach colony, occasionally even feeding them donuts. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E13
    Sep 16, 2025 · 33 min

    The Change, Technically anniversary special

    Ashley, Cat, and Danilo reflect on the major themes after one year of Change, Technically. For more information on consulting with Cat, please visit https://www.catharsisinsight.com/ --- SHOW NOTES: On women’s loss of status in gender incongruent professions: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797610384744 On links between self-compassion and prosocial behavior: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4026714/ On psychological essentialism: https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/abstract/S1364-6613(04)00183-4 On Shigeru Miyamoto's development of Donkey Kong (Note the line in this article, "Yamauchi [Nintendo's President] assured him [Miyamoto] his lack of technical skills would not be a problem."): https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-secret-history-of-i-donkey-kong-i- Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E12
    Jul 22, 2025 · 48 min

    Andor and the psychology of resistance

    SHOW NOTES Dominic Packer’s Normative Conflict Model of Dissent is described in this paper as well as his other work: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088868307309606 Cat also mentions Mina Cikara’s work on coalitional cognition. This is a good representation of that: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065260121000137 Cat also mentions The Power of Us, which is by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel, and a book she enjoyed! https://www.powerofus.online/ From the same authors, this piece talks about intergroup bias: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315735160-23/dynamic-nature-identity-brain-behavior-dominic-packer-jay-van-bavel Cat mentions a study about socially shared retrieval induced forgetting, that’s here: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-18938-001 James Baldwin: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5853-you-think-your-pain-and-your-heartbreak-are-unprecedented-in https://www.pbs.org/video/james-baldwin-suffering-bridge-of7cq3/ Asch’s research on conformity has been reexamined in work such as this: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-24067-001 and this: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327957pspr1001_1 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2420200104 Babies attending to prosocial actions: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61517-3 The research that we discuss about the targeted-universal message can be found here: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/1/pgae588/7942411 Further work on this is here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-0009.12651 Podcast we mention with Tressie McMillan Cottom is this one: https://moneywithkatie.com/status-power-economy Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E11
    Jun 23, 2025 · 52 min

    You deserve better brain research

    SHOW NOTES: For an example of a consideration of learning with information searching, a paper by Saskia Giebl and co-authors explored students learning basic programming concepts aided with a search engine and how active problem-solving before the search helps encourage stronger learning. This paper draws from a lot of the classic learning science/memory effects that Cat references: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1475725720961593 “Cognitive offloading” is a concept with a lot of interesting work behind it, and cognitive offloading can be as broad as just making a grocery list. Exploring task performance, and the mixed costs and benefits associated with cognitive offloading, can be started with this review and its citations: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-025-00432-2 Andrew Hogan wrote a nice post for parents concerned about their children's learning and brain health here, centering on helping people understand the limitations of study methodology: https://www.parent.tech/p/should-your-kids-use-chatgpt-for-homework-c028 Robert and Elizabeth Bjork and colleagues have published many relevant papers on the generation effect and other aspects of learning and metacognition about learning. Here are a few references Cat recommends: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143823 https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03196872 https://escholarship.org/content/qt56w8q3z9/qt56w8q3z9.pdf Because Ashley loves giving people an opportunity to play with the data for themselves, here’s an online interactive textbook with an introduction to EEG: https://neuraldatascience.io/7-eeg/introduction.html Research on the seductive power of putting a brain on it: https://direct.mit.edu/jocn/article/20/3/470/4473/The-Seductive-Allure-of-Neuroscience-Explanations https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjep.12162 Paper which nicely explains the dDTF technique step-by-step and applies it to understand motor imagery: https://braininformatics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40708-022-00154-8 Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E10
    Apr 25, 2025 · 41 min

    Dire wolves and bullshitters

    More reading & sources: Fantastic article which echos many of our arguments here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/18/wildlife-extinction-dire-wolf-endangered-species/ Science article which summarizes dire wolves news & science: https://www.science.org/content/article/what-s-deal-dire-wolves-iconic-predators-may-have-been-neanderthals-wolf-world Article which leaked an internal memo from US interior secretary which said, “Pick your favorite species and call up Colossal.”: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/10/trump-endangered-species-protections-dire-wolves/ ... which is also discussed in this very good Vox reporting: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/407781/dire-wolves-deextinction-colossal-biosciences Updates on recent cuts to NSF: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01263-0 Notes: Ashley said bioRxiv is federally-funded, she meant to say the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) archive, where Colossal posted the dire wolf genome, is federally funded Here’s what Embark does tell you about “Wolfiness”: https://help.embarkvet.com/hc/en-us/articles/360053867714-What-is-Wolfiness Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • Mar 28, 2025 · 53 min

    Who's afraid of math?

    SHOW NOTES: Cat wants you to know she read a *lot* of research for this episode. Major highlights we specifically drew from, and quote sources, were aross three reviews: Cat found this one especially helpful and refers to it the most, and this review also proposes the Interpretation Account of math anxiety: Ramirez, G., Shaw, S. T., & Maloney, E. A. (2018). Math anxiety: Past research, promising interventions, and a new interpretation framework. Educational psychologist, 53(3), 145-164. Amland, T., Grande, G., Scherer, R., Lervåg, A., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2024). Cognitive factors underlying mathematical skills: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. Chang, H., & Beilock, S. L. (2016). The math anxiety-math performance link and its relation to individual and environmental factors: A review of current behavioral and psychophysiological research. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 33–38. We briefly mentioned tDCS. An introduction to this technique (used both for therapeutic applications and in scientific studies) can be found here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5702643/ The specific study Cat & Ashley talk about, with math anxious adults, is this one: Sarkar, A., Dowker, A., & Cohen, K. R. (2014). Cognitive enhancement or cognitive cost: Trait-specific outcomes of brain stimulation in the case of mathematics anxiety. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34, 16605–16610. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3129-14.2014 Cat also mentions the connection between teachers’ gender stereotype endorsements and teachers’ math anxiety, and students’ math achievement. This study is here: Beilock, S. L., Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., & Levine, S. C. (2010). Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(5), 1860-1863. Further helpful reading & evidence about both parental and teachers’ impact on math attitudes and gender from the same authors: Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2012). The role of parents and teachers in the development of gender-related math attitudes. Sex roles, 66, 153-166. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • Feb 10, 2025 · 43 min

    Stepping out of the silo

    How do human beings work together and learn to be, well, human? Stepping out of our comfortable and cozy silos and learning to communicate our value in new contexts might just be the key to unlocking shared innovation. In this episode, we explore this question with Cristine Legare, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin interested in the interplay of the universal human mind and the variations of culture, who studies cognitive and cultural evolution and the design of social and behavioral change interventions. The Center for Applied Cognitive Science, which Cristine founded and directs: https://www.centerforappliedcogsci.com/ Her website, where you can keep up with more of her work as well as her upcoming book on ritual: https://cristinelegare.com/ Cat also mentions the book How Infrastructure Works, which is by Deb Chachra and can be found here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711/how-infrastructure-works-by-deb-chachra/ Cat mentions an overlay journal she and her collaborators write to translate more scientific papers for software teams; it's called The Developer Science Review and you can read our issues here: https://dsl.pubpub.org/issues Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E7
    Jan 25, 2025 · 34 min

    The NIH pays off beyond our dreams

    In a special edition of Change, Technically, Ashley and Cat get into the facts of the NIH: what it does, how it works, and the consequences of disrupting its essential work. The NIH creates enormous economic impact, 400,000 jobs across the US, and sets science in motion that touches all of us. How to contact your representatives: Dial (202) 224-3121 Tell autoresponder your representative name or zip code when prompted Speak directly to staffer or leave voicemail: “My name is ___, I’m a constituent in [town]. (If clinician/scientist, say so) The NIH freeze harms research and patients and must be lifted immediately. I also believe that it is important to maintain funding mechanisms that improve and diversify the NIH workforce, including those labeled as 'diversity or DEI efforts'” Relevant executive orders: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/initial-rescissions-of-harmful-executive-orders-and-actions/ Study on new drugs and NIH funding: E. Galkina Cleary, J.M. Beierlein, N.S. Khanuja, L.M. McNamee, F.D. Ledley, Contribution of NIH funding to new drug approvals 2010–2016, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115 (10) 2329-2334, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1715368115 (2018). United for Medical Research resource where you can look up NIH impact for your state along with many resources about NIH impact: https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/ News articles on pausing of NIH meetings and travel: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00231-y https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiring https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/health/nih-scientists-purchase-supplies-trump-administration-pauses-communications/index.html Information about STARTneuro: http://startneuro.ucsd.edu https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/transfer-students-triumph-class-2024#manuel Support the STARTneuro program directly: https://crowdsurf.ucsd.edu/campaigns/support-the-startneuro-program-at-uc-san-diego Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E6
    Jan 4, 2025 · 21 min

    The magic of little boxes

    In this special 'Change, Technically: Holidays On The Couch' edition of the podcast, Ashley & Cat discuss their philosophies of measurement and goal tracking, debate the value of data, and ponder the behavioral science of doing the stuff we resolve to do. Notes: Cat & Ashley mention this essay: https://issues.org/limits-of-data-nguyen/ Show correction: Ashley wrongly said the Nguyen essay above had reminded her about Goodhart’s Law (the idea that as soon as we measure something, it loses meaning). Rather, she re-discovered it in Calling Bullshit by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin D. West. Ashley’s error explains why Cat was so confused about her comments on the essay, oops. :) Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E5
    Dec 10, 2024 · 36 min

    Open science: hope is other people

    Much like open source software, open science is a path to distributed collaboration. By sharing the data from experiments and investigations open and available, scientists can multiply impact and discovery for teams they've never even met. Our guest, Saskia de Vries, talks to us about her work at the Allen Institute, including accelerating the pace of discovery by making scientific data available to everyone who wants it. Credits Saskia de Vries, guest Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor You can learn more about the Allen Institute on their website: https://alleninstitute.org/ Read some of Saskia's recent thoughts on sharing data in neuroscience here: https://elifesciences.org/articles/85550 The CRCNS open data repository that Saskia mentions: https://crcns.org/ Read about the FAIR principles for scientific data management and stewardship: https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201618 Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E4
    Nov 11, 2024 · 46 min

    What really matters in software?

    Can creativity mean more for software than productivity? Do we need to let go of “hardcore developer stuff”? Will getting more people to major in computer science fix everything? Ashley and Cat chat with Change, Technically’s first guest star SUE SMITH about developer learning and the future of software teams as technology changes. Credits Sue Smith, guest Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor While not mentioned in the episode, we would be remiss if we did not link you to Sue's illustrated collections of HTTP status codes: - Golden Girls variant - Keanu Reeves variant Cat mentioned this paper by Dr. Natasha Quadlin as an example of how the same achievement information can be interpreted very differently by biased viewers during hiring: Quadlin, N. (2018). The mark of a woman’s record: Gender and academic performance in hiring. American sociological review, 83(2), 331-360. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0003122418762291 Dr. Quadlin has many fascinating projects on inequality and a book with Brian Powell tackling questions about inequality and college: https://www.russellsage.org/publications/who-should-pay Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E3
    Sep 6, 2024 · 36 min

    What’s neuroscience got to do with it?

    Neuroscience is the hottest STEM field. Why? What does a neuroscientist actually do? Is the brain some mechanically deterministic box configured at birth? Cat knows Ashley has the answers, and now you will, too. Credits Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor For an incisive breakdown of “the crimes against dopamine” please read the piece of that title by Mark Humphries. The myth of mental illness book that Ashley mentioned was written in 1961 and we don’t really think it’s worth reading. The longitudinal fMRI study that Ashley contributed to while in graduate school: Stewart JL, Juavinett AL, May AC, Davenport PW, Paulus MP (2015) Do you feel alright? Attenuated neural processing of aversive interoceptive stimuli in current stimulant users. Psychophysiology 52:249–262. This is the Twitter/X account that highlights when a study happens IN MICE: https://x.com/justsaysinmice. And here’s the creator’s motivation: https://jamesheathers.medium.com/in-mice-explained-77b61b598218 The study that recorded from someone’s brain while they died is Vicente et al. (2022) Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 14. See also this commentary about their claims. We once again mentioned field-specific ability beliefs. Here’s Cat’s blogpost on her own research. This study explores the basic dynamics of field-specific ability beliefs and shows their connection to gender inequities in academic disciplines: Leslie, S. J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E2
    Aug 30, 2024 · 40 min

    Who's technical?

    What makes someone technical? What are our preconceptions about "technical" skills? How do those beliefs influence outcomes, and the success of who we include? Ashley and Cat dig in. Credits Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor On Communities of Practice, Ashley has published a paper on the impact of the program she co-directs: Zuckerman, A. L., Juavinett, A. L., Macagno, E. R., Bloodgood, B. L., Gaasterland, T., Artis, D., & Lo, S. M. (2022). A case study of a novel summer bridge program to prepare transfer students for research in biological sciences. Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research, 4(1), 27. Available here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43031-022-00067-w On Ambient Belonging, here is a great representative article that includes the evidence Ashley was sharing about the impact that stereotypical cues can have for women in technical spaces: Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P. G., & Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of personality and social psychology, 97(6), 1045. PDF here: https://sparq.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj19021/files/media/file/cheryan_et_al._2009_-_ambient_belonging.pdf The cogsci paper Cat mentioned is this one: Fendinger, N. J., Dietze, P., & Knowles, E. D. (2023). Beyond cognitive deficits: how social class shapes social cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(6), 528-538. Here's an article that's a good introduction to Alison Gopnik's Child as Scientist work: Gopnik, A. (2012). Scientific thinking in young children: Theoretical advances, empirical research, and policy implications. Science, 337(6102), 1623-1627. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1223416 Cat mentioned Contest Cultures in tech and Field-specific ability beliefs. Here’s Cat’s blogpost on her own research. This is a study that explores how Contest Cultures lead to exclusion: Vial, A. C., Muradoglu, M., Newman, G. E., & Cimpian, A. (2022). An emphasis on brilliance fosters masculinity-contest cultures. Psychological Science, 33(4), 595-612. And this study explores the basic dynamics of field-specific ability beliefs and shows their connection to gender inequities in academic disciplines: Leslie, S. J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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  • S1 · E1
    Aug 23, 2024 · 37 min

    You can do it, too

    What does it take to make STEM work more accessible and effective? Ashley and Cat introduce their work and their values by answering this question. Credits Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor Ashley on teaching coding to neuroscientists: Juavinett, A. L. (2022). The next generation of neuroscientists needs to learn how to code, and we need new ways to teach them. Neuron, 110(4), 576-578. Zuckerman, A. L., & Juavinett, A. L. (2024, March). When Coding Meets Biology: The Tension Between Access and Authenticity in a Contextualized Coding Class. In Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1 (pp. 1491-1497). PDF here: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3626252.3630966 Sense of Belonging is a widely-studied concept across the psychological sciences. Cat’s work on Developer Thriving includes a measure of Belonging on software teams: Hicks, C. M., Lee, C. S., & Ramsey, M. (2024). Developer Thriving: four sociocognitive factors that create resilient productivity on software teams. IEEE Software. PDF here: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10491133 This recent article provides a helpful commentary, summarizing an impressive collaboration across 22 campuses and 26k+ students: Walton, G. M., Murphy, M. C., Logel, C., Yeager, D. S., Goyer, J. P., Brady, S. T., ... & Krol, N. (2023). Where and with whom does a brief social-belonging intervention promote progress in college?. Science, 380(6644), 499-505. PDF here: https://www.greggmuragishi.com/uploads/5/7/1/5/57150559/walton_et_al_2023.pdf Mark Appelbaum, Cat’s first stats teacher, had a positive impact on many, many students. You can read about his life here: https://psychology.ucsd.edu/people/profiles/mappelbaum-in-memoriam.html Schools, Technology and Who gets to Play? Rafalow, M. H. (2014). The digital divide in classroom technology use: A comparison of three schools. International Journal of Sociology of Education, 3(1), 67-100. Rafalow, M. H., & Puckett, C. (2022). Sorting machines: digital technology and categorical inequality in Education. Educational researcher, 51(4), 274-278. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley ashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

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