Danielle X. Morales

Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Environmental Injustice: Unequal Carcinogenic Air Pollution Risks in Greater Houston

Disparate residential hazard exposures based on disadvantaged gender status (e.g., among female-headed households) have been documented in the distributive environmental justice literature, yet no published studies have examined whether disproportionate environmental risks exist based on minority sexual orientation. To address this gap, we use data from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, and the Environmental Protection Agency at the 2010 census tract level to examine the spatial relationships between same-sex partner households and cumulative cancer risk from exposure to hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emitted by all ambient emission sources in Greater Houston (Texas). Findings from generalized estimating equation analyses demonstrate that increased cancer risks from HAPs are significantly associated with neighborhoods having relatively high concentrations of resident same-sex partner households, adjusting for geographic clustering and variables known to influence risk (i.e., race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, renter status, income inequality, and population density). HAP exposures are distributed differently, however, for same-sex male versus same-sex female partner households. Neighborhoods with relatively high proportions of same-sex male partner households are associated with significantly greater exposure to cancer-causing HAPs, whereas those with high proportions of same-sex female partner households are associated with less exposure. This study provides initial empirical documentation of a previously unstudied pattern and infuses current theoretical understanding of environmental inequality formation with knowledge emanating from the sexualities and space literature. Practically, results suggest that other documented health risks experienced in gay neighborhoods could be compounded by disparate health risks associated with harmful exposures to air toxics.

Factors Influencing Student Gains from Undergraduate Research Experiences at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

When factors relevant to student gains from undergraduate research were examined, results revealed that students who reported receiving higher-quality mentorship, spending more hours caring for dependents, and receiving more programmatic resources experienced significantly greater gains in science competency, personal growth, and skills.

Environmental injustice and sexual minority health disparities: A national study of inequitable health risks from air pollution among same-sex partners

Air pollution is deleterious to human health, and numerous studies have documented racial and socioeconomic inequities in air pollution exposures. Despite the marginalized status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations, no national studies have examined if they experience inequitable exposures to air pollution. This cross-sectional study investigated inequities in the exposure of same-sex partner households to hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in the US. We examined cancer and respiratory risks from HAPs across 71,207 census tracts using National Air Toxics Assessment and US Census data. We calculated population-weighted mean cancer and respiratory risks from HAPs for same-sex male, same-sex female and heterosexual partner households. We used generalized estimating equations (GEEs) to examine multivariate associations between sociodemographics and health risks from HAPs, while focusing on inequities based on the tract composition of same-sex, same-sex male and same-sex female partners. We found that mean cancer and respiratory risks from HAPs for same-sex partners are 12.3% and 23.8% greater, respectively, than for heterosexual partners. GEEs adjusting for racial/ethnic and socioeconomic status, population density, urban location, and geographic clustering show that living in census tracts with high (vs. low) proportions of same-sex partners is associated with significantly greater cancer and respiratory risks from HAPs, and that living in same-sex male partner enclaves is associated with greater risks than living in same-sex female partner enclaves. Results suggest that some health disparities experienced by LGBT populations (e.g. cancer, asthma) may be compounded by environmental exposures. Findings highlight the need to extend the conceptual framework for explaining LGBT health disparities beyond psycho-behavioral mechanisms translating social stress into illness to include environmental mechanisms. Because psycho-behavioral and environmental factors may together exacerbate health disparities, we call for a shift toward interdisciplinary research on LGBT health that takes into account cumulative risks, including the role of environmental exposures.

Faculty Motivation to Mentor Students Through Undergraduate Research Programs: A Study of Enabling and Constraining Factors

Undergraduate research experiences are a “high impact” educational practice that confer benefits to students. However, little attention has been paid to understanding faculty motivation to mentor undergraduate students through research training programs, even as the number of programs has grown, requiring increasing numbers of faculty mentors. To address this, we introduce a conceptual model for understanding faculty motivation to mentor and test it by using empirical data to identify factors that enable and constrain faculty engagement in an undergraduate research program. Using cross-sectional survey data collected in 2013, we employed generalized linear modeling to analyze data from 536 faculty across 13 research institutions to examine how expected costs/benefits, dispositional factors, situational factors, previous experience, and demographic factors predicted faculty motivation to mentor. Results show that faculty who placed greater value on the opportunity to increase diversity in the academy through mentorship of underrepresented minorities were more likely to be interested in serving as mentors. Faculty who agreed more strongly that mentoring undergraduate students was time consuming and their institution’s reward structures were at odds with mentoring, or who had more constrained access to undergraduate students were less likely to be interested in serving as mentors. Mid-career faculty were more likely than late-career faculty to be interested in serving as mentors. Findings have implications for improving undergraduate research experiences, since the success of training programs hinges on engaging highly motivated faculty members as mentors.

Increasing Research Productivity in Undergraduate Research Experiences: Exploring Predictors of Collaborative Faculty–Student Publications

Biomedical faculty mentors were more productive in publishing collaboratively with undergraduate students when they worked with students for more than 1 year on average, enjoyed teaching students about research, and had mentored Black students.

The conundrum of social class: Disparities in publishing among STEM students in undergraduate research programs at a Hispanic majority institution

Research on the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) student development pipeline has largely ignored social class and instead examined inequalities based on gender and race. We investigate the role of social class in undergraduate student research publications. Data come from a sample of 213 undergraduate research participants majoring in STEM at a Hispanic-majority institution. Based on generalized estimating equations that adjust for student demographics, research confidence, mentoring experiences, duration/number of research experiences, and clustering by major, we find that higher income students and continuing-generation students (vs. first-generation students) were significantly more likely to publish. Continuing-generation students had an even greater likelihood of publishing than first-generation students as students accrued more research confidence, spent more hours/week with faculty mentors, and conducted research for more months. Results suggest that undergraduate research programs designed to enhance diversity may help close some gaps (e.g., gender) but inadvertently reproduce class inequalities.

Influences on Faculty Willingness to Mentor Undergraduate Students from Another University as Part of an Interinstitutional Research Training Program

Faculty who valued the opportunity to increase diversity in the academy and those who believed that mentoring undergraduates benefited their own research expressed greater willingness to serve as research mentors to visiting undergraduates.

Race/Ethnicity, Obesity, and the Risk of Being Verbally Bullied: a National Multilevel Study

ObjectiveTo examine the effects of obese/overweight status and race/ethnicity on the risk for being verbally bullied among second grade children, and to investigate if the relationship between weight status and verbal bullying varies based on race/ethnicity.DesignData on second graders from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (Children = 18,130; Schools = 2419) were analyzed. Hierarchical generalized logistic modeling was used to address the objectives.ResultsIndependent of the child’s sex, age, academic performance, family socioeconomic status, and school characteristics, obese/overweight children (relative to non-obese/overweight children) and Black children (relative to White children) were more likely to be verbally bullied. Hispanic and Asian children were less likely to be verbally bullied relative to White children. Hispanic obese/overweight children experienced less verbal bullying than White obese/overweight children.ConclusionsThis study documented disproportionate risks of being verbally bullied for obese/overweight US second graders. The risk of being verbally bullied was significantly greater for obese/overweight White children vs. obese/overweight Hispanic children.ImplicationsFindings can inform the development of strategies to reduce verbal bullying of obese/overweight children in US elementary schools.