Change, Technically

Dr. Ashley Juavinett and Dr. Cat Hicks

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.

  1. -6 j

    Dopamine, misunderstood

    Are we addicted to talking about dopamine? In this episode, we tackle dopamine hype with real science: what dopamine is doing in the brain, how we study it, and how it's been misunderstood. ---- SHOW NOTES two articles tackling dopamine nation:  https://awjuliani.medium.com/beyond-dopamine-nation-towards-a-fuller-picture-of-addiction-and-recovery-97b37e17235e https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/opinion/addiction-dopamine-brain-chemistry.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yVA.uvbi.PVfFQMzMudvb&smid=url-share  other great takes on this topic:  mark humphries "the crimes against dopamine" https://medium.com/the-spike/the-crimes-against-dopamine-b82b082d5f3d https://youtu.be/HZRGWPLeMIg?si=Ponb7AagEa4QN2BY things that cause dopamine release, as studied with PET: video games https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9607763/ music https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2726  yes, cocaine https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9331351/ (relatedly, nora volkow's work: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18617195/)not just reward in isolation https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922009521 more papers that fueled the sciency talk here:  https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.061604.135722https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1513619112https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1014269108 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32974872/ songs covered in the episode: "dopamine" by robyn https://youtu.be/vitil9qMN6A?si=mMu1FliQP4-6QSIE "dopamine" by madelline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upy4rB8V3T4---- Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashleyashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/https://mastodon.social/@grimalkinagrimalkina.bsky.social

    Dopamine, misunderstood
  2. 22/12/2025

    Math is for girls

    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 bulletin, 136(6), 1123. Makowski, M. B., Lubienski, S. T., Ganley, C. M., Sianturi, I. A. J., & Hart, S. A. (2025). Gender differences in computation strategies: Evidence across adolescent and adult samples. British Journal of Educational Psychology. Master, A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Cheryan, S. (2021). Gender stereotypes about interests start early and cause gender disparities in computer science and engineering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(48), e2100030118. Miller- Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashleyashleyjuavinett.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/https://mastodon.social/@grimalkinagrimalkina.bsky.social

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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.

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