Work Experiences Lab
In the Work Experiences Lab, undergraduates study issues related to men's and women's experiences of job stress in the workplace. Specifically, we are interested in harassment experiences and how those are similar or dissimilar to other, more general job stressors. We also examine employees' coping strategies, job-related, and psychological outcomes related to the stress.

Undergraduates in my lab gain great experience relevant to their future graduate studies or applied careers in the workplace. They become proficient at critiquing published research in the stress and harassment field by reading research articles and discussing them at weekly meetings. They also gain first-hand experience in collecting and analyzing data on employees' workplace stress experiences. We typically administer paper-and-pencil or computerized questionnaires to organizational employees and/or working ISU students. Undergraduate lab assistants have a hand in designing the questionnaires, collecting the data, and using SPSS to analyze and interpret the data.

In the spring 2002 semester, we are collecting data related to 2 projects and planning a third project. First, we are examining the nature of working ISU students' sexual and ethnic harassment experiences. We are particularly interested in the job attitudes and mental health of employees who have experienced both sexual and ethnic harassment, given that the effects of multiple stressors are likely extremely negative. We are also examining how coping may or may not differ when an employee is faced with sexual or ethnic harassment, and whether harassment-specific coping strategies differ from how employees cope with other non-harassment conflicts at work. Much of this research extends my earlier work on the sexual and ethnic harassment experiences of Hispanic employees. See Schneider, Hitlan, & Radhakrishnan (2001). An examination of the nature and correlates of ethnic harassment experiences in multiple contexts, Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(1), 3-12.

A second project we are currently working on is related to employees' experiences of exclusion or ostracism at work. We are collaborating with researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso to examine how employees are affected when coworkers exclude them from work-related and/or social interactions. This issue is particularly relevant in diverse workgroups, especially those where language may be used as an exclusionary device (e.g., Hispanic coworkers speaking Spanish in order to exclude a non-Hispanic).

Students working as research assistants in my lab will also get the opportunity to participate in ISU's annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Here, students may present posters or give talks related to projects we have completed in the Work Experiences Lab. There is also the possibility of presenting our research at national conferences such as the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA), or the International Coalition against Sexual Harassment (ICASH).

Please contact Dr. Kim Schneider (ktschne@ilstu.edu) if you are interested in enrolling in Psy 290 or if you would like more detailed information about this research.