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Change, Technically

Change, Technically

By: Dr. Ashley Juavinett and Dr. Cat Hicks
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About this listen

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.

© 2025 Change, Technically
Science
Episodes
  • Math is for girls
    Dec 22 2025

    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 b

    Learn more about Ashley:

    • https://ashleyjuavinett.com/
    • https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley
    • analog-ashley.bsky.social


    Learn more about Cat:

    • https://www.drcathicks.com/
    • https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina
    • grimalkina.bsky.social
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • Science deserves stories
    Dec 9 2025

    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
    • analog-ashley.bsky.social


    Learn more about Cat:

    • https://www.drcathicks.com/
    • https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina
    • grimalkina.bsky.social
    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • The Change, Technically anniversary special
    Sep 16 2025

    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
    • analog-ashley.bsky.social


    Learn more about Cat:

    • https://www.drcathicks.com/
    • https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina
    • grimalkina.bsky.social
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
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