biella Games
Research Mentor: Sandy Zalmout
Mentor Department: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research,
Author(s): Biella Games, Kathleen Woods Ignatoski, and Sandy Zalmout
Session: Session 1 (9:00 AM – 9:50 AM)
Presentation Type:
Abstract
Interviews are an important pathway through which students gain access to undergraduate
research opportunities, however many interview practices are built around neurotypical norms. These expectations can disadvantage neurodivergent students by misinterpreting differences in communication style as a lack of preparation, interest, or ability rather than as variation in expression and processing. As a result many qualified students may be overlooked and UROP mentors may miss opportunities to build diverse and strong research teams. Conducted through the University of Michigan Neurodiversity Project under UROP, my research aims to better understand how interviews are experienced and interpreted by neurodiversity students in order to promote more inclusive mentoring practices as well as a broader rethinking of how interviews assess student potential.
