Nilanjana Dasgupta

Research in our lab shines a light on unspoken assumptions about social groups, often called implicit stereotypes or biases, and the ways in which they impact people’s evaluations of, and actions toward, others. We also examine how implicit biases influence people's self-perceptions, performance, and academic and career choices. We are particularly interested in the plasticity of implicit bias—the ways in which changes in social contexts change implicit attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.

Our work is translational—moving back-and-forth between controlled lab experiments and naturalistic field studies, so that knowledge from all sources enriches theory development. We are interested in translating the deliverables from our research to inform social problems such as employment discrimination, educational disparities in science, engineering, and mathematics, and the underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in professional leadership roles.

In collaboration with graduate students and postdocs, my current research identifies the types of academic and professional contexts that protect individuals' sense of self and aspirations against negative stereotypes.