Duke - Winter 2015 https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/issue/winter-2015 en Professor Explores "Difference" in Business https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/professor-explores-difference-business <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Ashleigh Shelby Rosette grew up in rural, working-class East Texas. Race and class divided her community.</p> <p>So it makes sense that, as an associate professor of management and organizations, she likes exploring inequities in the workplace. Workers, she’s observed, don’t always get out of the system what they put in.</p> <p>“Generally I’ve been motivated to attain a better understanding of how racial and gender stereotypes and prototypes influence leader perceptions, inequitable relationships, and workplace discrimination,” she says.</p> <p>Before working in academia, Rosette was a certified public accountant for Arthur Andersen, LLP. “I studied accounting because it came easily to me and I perceived it as a field in which there would always be high demand. It was a safe initial career choice.” But when she had the opportunity to pursue her Ph.D, she wanted to explore “the people in organizations, looking at the experiences with a micro-organizational behavioral lens—trying to understand individual perceptions and decisions better.” Differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, and class are not often discussed in a nuanced way in the business world. “Frequently, people tend to like sameness,” Rosette says. “So studying diversity, especially in organizational settings, can be perceived as risky.”</p> <p>Now, as the first tenured African-American professor at Fuqua, she says her research goal is to increase awareness of these issues to help spur change. “That means more equality with regard to race and leadership positions and gender and leadership positions,” she says, adding that she would like to see “true meritocracy” instead of the myth of meritocracy.</p> <p>Her work digs into the cultural characteristics that define leadership and the hidden systems of privilege within organizations. Her recent publications include “Are Male Leaders Penalized for Seeking Help? The Influence of Gender and Asking Behaviors on Competence Perceptions” and “Why Do Racial Slurs Remain Prevalent in the Workplace: Integrating Theory on Intergroup Behavior.”</p> <p>“For many scholars, research is ‘me-search’,” she says. “You generate questions about those things that intrigue you, fascinate you, perplex you, and frustrate you. I have found this to be true for my own work.”</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-16T00:00:00-05:00">Wednesday, December 16, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/arts-and-culture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Arts and Culture</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/business" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Business</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/rosetteportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ashleigh Shelby Rosette delves into race, class, and gender issues</div></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Wed, 16 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498488 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/professor-explores-difference-business#comments Our Brains, Near Water https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/our-brains-near-water <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Scientists have offered wide-ranging ideas about why being near the ocean brings us such calm. They include the negative ions found in ocean waves, which are believed to boost the mood chemical serotonin, and our evolutionary propensity to find safety in flat, unforested environments where predators can’t hide. Studies have linked swimming and other aquatic exercises to improved mood and sharper brain function. There’s also anecdotal evidence that kayaking, surfing, and fishing are therapeutic for substance abusers, people with physical disabilities, and veterans coping with brain injuries and emotional trauma.</p><p>The hard research mostly nips around the edges. In his book, J Nichols cites papers like a 2010 study that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how different pictures activate the brain. In the study, nature scenes triggered activity in regions associated with empathy. Urban scenes lit up the amygdala, which detects dangers. Other research has linked the color blue with security and relaxation, and shown that ocean sounds decrease body levels of the stress hormone cortisol.</p><p>At Duke, Scott Huettel has approached the question by studying how our brains place value on certain visual images, including landscapes like oceans. He measures this by having subjects give up a few pennies of their compensation in exchange for lingering over the pictures they find most attractive. He then correlates those results with brain function, using fMRI to look at changes in blood oxygenation, an indirect measure of neuronal activity.</p><p>What he’s found is that the brain calculates the value of experiences like beach vacations in much the same way it calculates the value of material goods. “Your experience seems to be encoded in the brain not just as some abstract aesthetic—‘ this is pretty’—but actually how much it’s worth to you,” he says. Based on the literature, Huettel adds, it seems to be worth more than people realize. “You ask them how happy a purchase is going to make them feel, they overestimate their later happiness for buying a new iPhone, or a new car, or a new pair of shoes. And they underestimate the satisfaction they’ll get from having taken a vacation, or a trip, or an outing with friends.”</p><p>Huettel is quick to note that this is incomplete science. “The enormous challenge is that we require people to be inside an MRI scanner,” he says. “This limits the depth of the sensory experience people can have. So we know a fair amount about visual experiences. We can find out—although my lab doesn’t study it—a little bit about auditory experiences. But the other senses are quite difficult to engage while they’re in the MRI scanner. There’s no technique that’s close to being able to identify what’s going on while someone is engaging the full sensory experience, say, of walking along the beach. That’s many years in the future.”</p><p>Still, Huettel’s research caught the attention of Nichols, who reached out to the brain scientist before the 2012 summit (the only one he has attended). “This is something near and dear to J’s heart, because he sees a challenge to conservation as increasing awareness about the underappreciated value of the oceans as a common resource,” Huettel says. “My sense is that he’s right about this big puzzle: We know that people have great difficulty thinking accurately about public goods. We tend to undervalue them in many ways, and we don’t take enough personal actions to support them.”</p><p>Huettel agrees that more research by neuroscientists could shift the conversation about environmental policy. “Once you start thinking about things in terms of brain changes,” he says, “something that might seem ineffable becomes more real.” (<a href="http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/an-alumnus-makes-a-watertight-argument">Read more about J Nichols' "blue" effort.</a>)</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-16T00:00:00-05:00">Wednesday, December 16, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/barry-yeoman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Barry Yeoman</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/bluemindportrait2_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-photo-credit field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Photo Credit:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/photographers/neil-ever-osborne" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Neil Ever Osborne</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Wed, 16 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498489 at https://alumni.duke.edu Aaron Chatterji: Innovative Thinker https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/aaron-chatterji-innovative-thinker <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Growing up in the fading manufacturing economy of upstate New York, Aaron Chatterji saw first-hand what happens when a community loses its economic engine. “It was the ’80s and ’90s, and many of our bigger employers had downsized or moved away. I remember looking at these old photographs of downtown when it was bustling, and wondering, <em>what happened</em>?”</p> <p>He didn’t need to search far for answers. Dinner table talk in the Chatterji household often revolved around social sciences and the impact of economic ideas on the wider world. His father, an economics professor, and his mother, a special-education teacher, both immigrants from India, encouraged big questions and teachable moments. “In my family, teaching was the highest calling,” says Chatterji, a tenured associate professor at Fuqua and leading scholar in entrepreneurship and business innovation.</p> <p>Chatterji used both his teaching skills and his ideas when he served as a senior economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), where he worked on a wide range of policies relating to entrepreneurship, innovation, infrastructure, and economic growth in 2010 and 2011. He also worked closely with top CEOs to develop corporate- responsibility strategies. “CEOs are very interested in public impact, but each company does its own thing,” he says. “If we could measure outcomes and find best practices, we could do even better.”</p> <p>That experience in Washington deepened Chatterji’s understanding of how the public and private sectors can work together toward a common goal. “As we’ve seen in the tech industry and the sciences, research funded by government institutes lays the groundwork for innovation and new business,” he says. “It’s the virtuous cycle that invigorated the Research Triangle. Downtown Durham is a hub of activity now. How can we apply that to other cities in economic transition? That’s the question.”</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-15T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, December 15, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/writers/aaron-chatterji" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Aaron Chatterji</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/chatterjiportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The professor says government and business must collaborate to drive innovation</div></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498490 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/aaron-chatterji-innovative-thinker#comments A Pledge for Workplace Change https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/pledge-workplace-change <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><span class="dc">D</span>ean Bill Boulding says the Fuqua School of Business is committed to identifying the best practices for developing workplaces that better meet the needs of women and working families.</p><p>Boulding and other deans from the country’s top business schools made the pledge at the White House this summer, after working for more than a year with the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cwg">Council on Women and Girls</a> and the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea">Council of Economic Advisers</a>.</p><p>“I’m so proud that our students have also been a driver of these candid conversations,” Boulding says.</p><p>In 2013, <a href="https://duke.collegiatelink.net/organization/associationofwomeninbusiness">Fuqua’s Association of Women in Business</a> realized it was only talking to like-minded women about the challenges many members were experiencing in the workplace, he explains. As a result, the group started a program for men. Now both men and women gather to have these conversations, resulting in a more productive understanding of the issues facing each group.</p><p>“At business schools, we have the opportunity to make a tremendous impact in how future leaders think about challenges facing families in the workforce,” he says. “I’m extremely pleased to see tangible steps being taken by business schools to make sure this is a priority in our institutions. Ultimately, this commitment could transform how we are thinking about our workforce in the United States.”</p><p>Some of the issues the business-school deans pledged to focus on include ensuring access to business schools and business careers for women, and offering career services for students and graduates seeking part-time work and flexible work schedules.</p><p>Surveys of M.B.A. graduates reveal that women often are penalized for career interruptions stemming from motherhood. Many companies still lack workplace flexibility, often resulting in women making less money and earning fewer promotions.</p><p>“What our students started to discover is that some of these issues don’t just impact women. There are also workplace concerns facing men. There is more common ground than some might have initially thought,” Boulding says.</p><p>The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has announced plans to help lead this effort beyond the business schools that committed to the pledge. AACSB, which has 1,450 members and accredits more than 700 schools, announced the appointment of its first chief diversity and inclusion advocate.</p><p>“I’ve been proud to be part of this effort,” Boulding says. “I hope this will be a conversation that continues well past this gathering at the White House.”</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-15T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, December 15, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/billbportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Dean Boulding commits to initiatives aimed at developing leaders who understand the needs of working families. </div></div></section> Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498494 at https://alumni.duke.edu Making Brazilian Connections https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/making-brazilian-connections <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><span class="dc">S</span>itting in the middle of a futuristic set in São Paulo this past September, Dean Bill Boulding was surrounded by Brazil’s top journalists, who had the freedom to ask him anything for an hour and a half.</p><p>It was a prime position for the dean. The show was <em>Roda Viva</em>, a prominent TV program in that country.</p><p>“<em>Roda Viva</em> is by far the best known television show in Brazil,” says Rubens Passos, Global Executive M.B.A. ’99. “Every influential decision-maker in the country watches the program, and there really is no equivalent to its prestige in the United States. Dean Boulding did an excellent job of representing the school on such a large platform and added great insight into current challenges facing the country.”</p><p><em>Roda Viva</em> was just one interview the dean conducted as part of a series of meetings with Brazil’s most wellknown media outlets, including Valor Econômico, Época Negócios and Folha de São Paulo. Passos was instrumental in making those high-level media connections happen. He worked closely with Fuqua’s marketing team to identify opportunities in Brazil that could help raise the school’s profile. Passos then leveraged his relationships to connect staff with the appropriate contacts to form strong partnerships.</p><p>“We are so grateful for all the time Rubens spent helping our team really understand how we might be able to connect in Brazil in meaningful ways. Not only did Rubens make the introductions that led to success in our efforts, but he was a source of valuable insight throughout the process of forming key relationships and strong partnerships in Brazil,” Boulding says. “He is truly an example of how our alumni can help us make an impact around the world.”</p><p>Beyond media, Passos also connected staff with an organization that facilitated an event in São Paulo, during which Boulding presented to about sixty company presidents and CEOs. The talk centered on how business leaders could regain public trust during a time when economic turmoil and corruption scandals have deeply fractured trust in leaders.</p><p>“This was such a tremendous opportunity, not just to speak to CEOs in Brazil, but to really learn from them,” Boulding says. “The personal interactions I had at that event helped illuminate the magnitude of the issues some of these executives are facing, in trying to help turn the economy around and ensuring Brazil has the bright future I believe will ultimately emerge.”</p><p>Passos wasn’t the only alumnus who helped support the dean’s trip. Patricia and Diego Miron, both Daytime M.B.A. ’96, sponsored an alumni reception and an event at Intel.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-15T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, December 15, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/billrodaregular.gif" width="620" height="265" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/rubenportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Rubens Passos, Global Executive M.B.A. &#039;99 connects Boulding with media and business leaders</div></div></section> Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498493 at https://alumni.duke.edu Asleep in the Shopping Aisle? https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/asleep-shopping-aisle <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><span class="dc">C</span>onsumers can easily go astray—especially if they are ordering naughty items or treating themselves for doing good deeds. And please, don’t trust them with portion sizes. At least that’s what the results of three studies done by Fuqua researchers examining consumer habits suggest.</p><p>As Americans gear up for the biggest shopping season of the year, they need to be mindful. “All three studies capture a general truth out there in the consumer market place,” says Gavan Fitzsimons, R. David Thomas Professor of marketing and psychology. “We tend not to be nearly as conscious in our consumer decision-making as most people would like to think we are.”</p><p>Old-school economists and most consumers buy into a false belief that people will consciously and actively consider all the options and choose the one that will give them the best outcome, he explains. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”</p><p>Who is left holding the bag? It depends on whether you brought them on your own or the store mandated that you provide bags.</p><p>When customers bring their reusable grocery bags to the store, they purchase more organic items but also reward themselves with indulgent items, such as cookies and ice cream, per findings in a study by Fuqua professor and researcher Bryan Bollinger published in the <em>Journal of Marketing</em>.</p><p>“For most people it’s likely not a conscious decision,” says Bollinger, who worked on the study with Uma Karmarkar of Harvard Business School. It seems that buying more environmentally friendly items was associated with a “priming” effect: Doing a “green” deed primes you to do another.</p><p>Rewarding yourself with a sweet treat, though, was attributed to the licensing effect. It turns out, grocery shoppers felt that taking the time to bring their own bags gave them license to indulge themselves with unhealthy foods. If the store required shoppers to bring their own reusable bags, they didn’t treat themselves to those same items.</p><p>Bollinger says the findings could be significant to store managers in the placement of products and in encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags.</p><p>“But it can’t feel like the store is forcing shoppers to bring bags,” Bollinger says. “It was important for consumers to attribute that good deed to themselves.”</p><p>And if no one is watching, folks really splurge. Professor Ryan McDevitt found that customers placed less healthy and more complicated pizza orders when they could do so online, without interacting with a clerk. So people are more likely to order the gyro, onion, tomato, and tzatziki sauce pizza online.</p><p>“If you don’t talk to anyone, it changes your behavior,” says McDevitt, who worked with Avi Goldfarb and Brian Silverman of the University of Toronto and Sampsa Samila of the National University of Singapore, on the study. Their findings will be in the journal <em>Management Science</em>.</p><p>When a clerk is taking the order, it seems consumers don’t want to complicate things, especially with the threat of being put on hold as clerks answer other calls. “With ordering online, there’s no time pressure,” Mc- Devitt says. “You don’t want to repeat yourself.”</p><p>More smoked reindeer slices, please.</p><p>The researchers also saw sales of hard-to-pronounce items increase after liquor stores in Sweden introduced self-service purchases. McDevitt says shoppers’ bolder behavior also extends to buying more embarrassing items.</p><p>The findings indicate that retailers need to think about making certain items more accessible. “The biggest implication for businesses is that they should be mindful of how social interaction influences their customers,” McDevitt says. “Especially for sensitive products, like personal-care items, stores should find ways to cut down on the amount of interaction required to make a purchase.</p><p>“You don’t want to draw attention to yourself, if the order is a little different in a brick-and-mortar store. Or if the purchase is at odds with your demographic.”</p><p>So, an older woman buying five copies of the <em>50 Shades of Grey</em> trilogy may feel more at ease getting the books through an e-commerce retailer instead of the neighborhood bookstore, where the clerk knows her name.</p><p>“If no one is judging, you are more likely to order exactly what you want,” he says.</p><p>Often consumers want plenty. That’s why Peter A. Ubel, associate director of Health Sector Management, and the Madge and Dennis T. Mc- Lawhorn University Professor, is afraid a federal plan to encourage healthy eating, by changing portion sizes on nutrition labels, could have the opposite effect.</p><p>Proposed changes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s nutrition facts label—the first update in more than twenty years—include an increase in serving sizes to reflect more accurately how much Americans are consuming at each meal.</p><p>“It all sounds great, and public-health people are really excited about it,” says Ubel, a physician and behavioral scientist who studies subtle influences on decision-making. “But we were worried it would tell people what they ought to eat. It would suggest to them that the appropriate serving size is what they’re consuming.”</p><p>Indeed, Ubel’s study, published online in the journal <em>Appetite</em>, found that Americans don’t understand the meaning of serving size on a label. In fact, in one study, more than 78 percent who saw the proposed labels with larger portions still incorrectly believed they referred to the appropriate amount to consume at one sitting.</p><p>Further studies showed that misunderstanding can also affect behavior. The researchers, who included Peggy Liu, a Ph.D. student at Duke, and Steven Dallas, of New York University, asked fifty- one adults in line at a basketball game to choose the number of cookies they would normally eat for a snack. Those who saw the proposed labels, which listed a serving as six cookies instead of the old label’s three, ate 41 percent more cookies than those who saw the current label.</p><p>“It’s a bit of a ‘lose–lose,’” Ubel says. “We eat too much.”</p><p>Each of the studies shows these situational factors are incredibly powerful when it comes to shopping and eating behaviors. As we approach the holiday season, consumers should be deliberate in their thinking, creating lists and checking them twice.</p><p>“A lot of times, we are making choices that are fast and complicated. We go with a quick judgement influenced by situational factors,” Fitzsimons says. “Stay focus and be mindful.”</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-15T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, December 15, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/shoppingregular.gif" width="620" height="265" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/reusableportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Duke researchers find a wealth of unconscious decision-making among consumers</div></div></section> Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498492 at https://alumni.duke.edu A Brain for Business https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/brain-business <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><span class="dc">D</span>uke neurosurgeon John Sampson has long been recognized as a pioneer in neurosurgery. He’s a co-leader of the Duke Cancer Institute’s Neuro-Oncology Program and is a recognized leader in the surgical and experimental treatment of brain tumors, with a focus on immunotherapy and drug delivery.</p><p>But he credits his time at Fuqua with giving him even more skills to use. For about nineteen months, Sampson tirelessly worked his way through the Weekend Executive M.B.A. program, taking classes every other Friday morning through Saturday afternoon.</p><p>And it paid off. Sampson M.B.A.’11 shepherded the team that successfully worked to elevate the division of neurosurgery to a department within the Duke University School of Medicine this past July.</p><p>“This places us on equal footing with other departments at Duke and with our peer neurosurgical departments throughout the U.S. We now have a wonderful opportunity to set forth a vision for Duke Neurosurgery, as well as an important responsibility to execute on that vision,” says Sampson, who chairs the department of neurosurgery and is the Robert H. and Gloria Wilkins Distinguished Professor of neurosurgery for the medical center.</p><p>Sampson describes himself as a lifetime learner and wanted to be more effective as neurosurgery enters a new phase. The discipline has grown substantially over the past fifteen years. Clinical volume has tripled, the number of faculty members has increased, new educational initiatives have been implemented, the internationally recognized Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center has thrived, a global health program has been established, and the research program has prospered in a time when funding for research is tight.</p><p>His Fuqua experience, Sampson says, sharpened his team-building skills through intense team-based projects that are part of the curriculum. During the exercises, the only way to achieve goals was to divide the work among the team members. “That was very different, at least for me,” Sampson says. “In medicine, particularly as a surgeon, we have a singular task. Although we have a team around us often, we focus more on ourselves—our patients. Working as a team is very important and hard to do.”</p><p>Sampson says the team-based work also helped him personally. “It helps you reflect on yourself, what you know, how other people see you. Those lessons in leadership are important. It helps me run the department effectively.”</p><p>Others have observed the same thing. Tracey Koepke, director of communications for the department of neurosurgery, says Sampson has been putting his M.B.A. to work. “He’s really good at assessing where we have gaps. He’s great at identifying the right personalities who are needed to help round out the team.”</p><p>Indeed, the surgeon can’t seem to stop thinking more strategically these days, even as he buys a cup of coffee from the hospital Starbucks. “I’m thinking about team building, customer service, pricing, marketing—you name it,” Sampson says.</p><p>“I’m wondering, if they made people wait three hours for a cup of coffee like they do for a doctor’s appointment, would they sell any coffee?”</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-15T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, December 15, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/dukecancerregular.gif" width="620" height="265" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/sampsonportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">M.B.A. training helped Duke neurosurgeon John Sampson build a premier department</div></div></section> Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498491 at https://alumni.duke.edu Planet Duke: Global research partnerships in Peru https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/planet-duke-global-research-partnerships-peru <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>At 6 o’clock in the morning there is just enough light cutting through the front entrance of the thatched home where Ernesto Ortiz, Axel Berky, and a nurse technician from the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA) work alongside each other and ask questions listed on their clipboards. The home belongs to a Peruvian family that has consented to participate in one of the largest baseline health studies ever conducted in the Amazon. Now the three researchers focus on collecting the family’s information before the men leave to work in their fields and on the river.</p> <p>Ortiz and Berky, research associates in the <a href="http://globalhealth.duke.edu/">Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI)</a>, talk with the head of the household, carefully recording responses to a wide range of topics, from the family’s migration and employment history, to food consumption, to illness history. Simultaneously, the nurse begins to prick the mother’s finger to screen for anemia and collect spots of blood on filter paper. She records the results and sorts them with the other hair, fingernail, blood, and urine samples to be analyzed for health data.</p> <p><img alt="" class="media-image" src="http://magazine-dev.oit.duke.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/DSC09513.jpeg?itok=CE3XURkJ" style="height:360px; width:480px" />Ortiz, Berky, and the nurse are visiting one of the 1,200 households enrolled in a large epidemiological research study led by William Pan, assistant professor of global environmental health at DGHI and the Nicholas School. The study examines human health and environmental impacts affecting twenty-three communities within the Amarakaeri Reserve, a national protected zone of mountainous and biodiverse rainforest in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, as a result of ongoing artisanal gold mining and exploratory gas extraction. The project, funded by Hunt Oil, aims to develop strategies for improved human and environmental health in the region by engaging communities, government health ministries, and private industry. The project has forged a strong partnership with Peruvian health entities including MINSA, the Regional Health Directorates (DIRESA), and the Center for Public Health Research and Services in the Amazon (CENSAP) that, according to the DGHI team, is mutually beneficial and has helped foster trust in study communities and provide immediate benefits to public health.</p> <p>This past March these collaborative partnerships were challenged. Rapid point-of-care blood tests administered by the DGHI team revealed previously unidentified clusters of Hepatitis B viral infections in two indigenous communities located along narrow tributaries of the Madre de Dios River in a largely undisturbed expanse of the Amazon rainforest. Approximately 27 percent of individuals tested positive for Hepatitis B. Ortiz immediately traveled from the secluded communities to inform physicians at the nearest local health post; that contact triggered outbreak- response efforts from national public-health authorities. MINSA headquarters in Peru’s capital city, Lima, dispatched a health brigade to perform further confirmatory Hepatitis B tests. Officials at MINSA, DIRESA, and CENSAP then worked with affected communities to administer Hepatitis B vaccinations and offer educational “charlas” on sexually transmitted infections.</p> <p>The outbreak tested the DGHI team and their Peruvian health partners, yet a history of cooperation yielded quick intervention. Since Pan and his DGHI team began work in Madre de Dios in 2011, the DGHI research has supplemented the health tests and data collected by Peruvian health ministries. The team has also helped to transport medical supplies to remote health posts. In the case of the 2015 Hepatitis B Outbreaks, Peruvian partnerships facilitated the DGHI team’s ability to immediately influence a previously unknown public-health issue affecting the communities with which they worked. Often, it can take months for global health studies and data collections to be completed and analyzed, and for study findings to be used to advance public health. Team members say the collaborative network in which this study was rooted also allowed for timely reporting and action after the discovery of Hepatitis B infections. The DGHI team’s work and prompt, open communication with Peruvian health officials enabled, Ortiz says, “immediate public-health benefits that would otherwise have taken years of submitting and analyzing data.”</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-14T00:00:00-05:00">Monday, December 14, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/roy-auh" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Roy Auh</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/magazine/writers/page-meier" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Page Meier</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/hutplanetportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-photo-credit field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Photo Credit:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/photographers/ernesto-ortiz" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ernesto Ortiz</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498503 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/planet-duke-global-research-partnerships-peru#comments Forever Duke Q&A: Deborah Lee James '79 https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/forever-duke-qa-deborah-lee-james-79 <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>As the 23rd secretary of the U.S. Air Force,&nbsp; James is responsible for organizing and equipping the nearly 664,000 airmen and women serving throughout the world. James is a former president at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a company that provides information technology support to the U.S. Department of Defense, and was the assistant secretary of defense for Reserve Affairs during the Clinton administration. James has served as secretary of the U.S. Air Force since 2013.</p> <p><em>How did you get to Duke?</em></p> <p>I grew up in a small town in New Jersey, and life was kind of confined to New Jersey for many years. When it came time for me to look at colleges, my first criterion was to get out of New Jersey. And of course I wanted to go to a great school. My major was comparative area studies with a concentration in Latin America, and my minor was Spanish. I graduated in three years and did some summer study in Spain and Argentina. Since my Duke days, I’ve traveled extensively. I’ve been to all seven continents. Duke was the first destination on this lifelong journey because it was the first time I lived away from home.</p> <p><em>How did your Duke experience prepare you for public service?</em></p> <p>It definitely solidified my love of international affairs and my love of language. To this day, I am fluent in conversational Spanish. At Duke I learned the importance of critical thinking, time management, having an inquisitive nature, and continual learning.</p> <p><em>What’s the secret to becoming the leader of the U.S. Air Force?</em></p> <p>Beats the heck out of me! Short story: I came out of Duke, I went to Columbia, got a master’s in international affairs, and promptly flew to the State Department. But I didn’t get picked to serve in the State Department. Instead, I got selected to work in the Department of the Army as a civilian. From that point forward, one thing led to the next. The thread that tied my experiences together was defense. Then, this very extraordinary thing happened: I got a call from the White House asking me if I would be willing to have my name on a list of candidates for secretary of the Air Force. I was just so blown away and flattered, of course I said yes, never dreaming that it would be me.</p> <p><em>Thinking about your initiatives to increase opportunities for women and minorities—what makes you most excited?</em></p> <p>I am a big believer in diversity— diversity of people and thought. I think that’s where you get the magic of innovation. I learned that at Duke. I experienced that at Duke. When we look at our Air Force, there’s both good news and bad news. We’re fairly diverse in the lower ranks— not as good as we could be but certainly the best of the services. We have about 20 percent women. But as we go up through the ranks, we start to get worse, which means both women and minorities are leaving us earlier than we would wish. That’s an important readiness issue. We need to do better.</p> <p><em>What would you say is the most important work to be done by the Air Force?</em></p> <p>We are involved with every operation that goes on at all times all around the world. Six hundred sixty thousand people make up our Air Force—that’s active duty airmen and women, the National Guard and Air Force Reserves, and civilians. The overwhelming majority is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. We put unbelievable confidence and authority and power in their hands. We have very young people who are maneuvering our satellites every day and who are standing watch on our nuclear enterprises. They are doing a great job and working very hard. A key mission of mine is taking care of them.</p> <p><em>What is your advice to Duke students and alumni who would like to pursue public service?</em></p> <p>Be prepared to zigzag, because whatever your original idea was may or may not work out. Ask people to have a cup of coffee and tell their story. That can create a mentoring situation. Competence also is really important because mentors and your network can open a door and get you a job interview, but unless you’ve got that competence, you’re not going to be able to get the job or hold the job.</p> <p><em>Want to meet Secretary James? Register for Women’s Weekend February 18-20, 2016, at www.dukealumni.com. The fifth biennial weekend brings together diverse alumnae and students for learning, conversation, and networking.</em></p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-14T00:00:00-05:00">Monday, December 14, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/deborahleejamessalute.gif" width="620" height="265" alt="Air Force photo by Mike Kaplan" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/writers/christina-holder" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christina Holder</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/deborahleejamesportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sterly Wilder &#039;83, associate vice president for alumni affairs, in conversation with the secretary of the U.S. Air Force</div></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498498 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/forever-duke-qa-deborah-lee-james-79#comments Q&A: Damon Tweedy M.D. '00 on race and medicine https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/qa-damon-tweedy-md-00-race-and-medicine <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><strong>Damon Tweedy M.D. ’00</strong>, assistant professor of psychiatry, is the author of the widely (and favorably) reviewed <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Man-White-Coat-Reflections/dp/1250044634"><em>Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine</em></a>.</p> <p><strong>What were some of your early shaping experiences? </strong></p> <p>I grew up in a working-class area outside Washington, D.C., and went to a not-so-great middle school. It was about 95 percent black, and many of the kids there were not on track for success. A math teacher suggested I take a test that eventually got me into a science-and-technology magnet program. At the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, I was a <a href="http://meyerhoff.umbc.edu/about/history/">Meyerhoff Scholar</a>; the program encourages African-American students into science and medicine. The summer after freshman year, I did research with an African-American cardiologist at the National Institute on Aging. It was great to work under someone who looked like me.</p> <p><strong>And that led you into medicine?</strong></p> <p>I was interested in cardiology for a long time. Eventually I realized that I had a knack for getting people to open up to me, and that’s what got me thinking about psychiatry.</p> <p><strong>You write about one of your Duke Medicine professors who approached you during a class break and assumed you were a maintenance worker. You seemed to let him go unchallenged. Any second thoughts?</strong></p> <p>I was already on fragile ground about whether I was going to make it in medical school. And here was a professor who was going to control my next step in the process. So I wasn’t sure about confronting him, or if he’d even get it. For me, the only way to prove I belonged was to excel. Basically, for the next month, I stayed in my room and studied. I ended up getting the second-highest grade in a class of 100 students.</p> <p><strong>You mention that the percentage of African-American medical students is tiny compared to the representation of African Americans in the general population. What keeps those numbers so far apart?</strong></p> <p>That points to bigger issues in society, including economic disparities. Becoming a doctor is an expensive undertaking. You also need the right educational opportunities to put yourself on a strong academic path. And we have to acknowledge the cultural perception of what African- American success means. Historically it’s been a narrow conception, particularly for black men—sports and entertainment. If you don’t see a certain kind of success, it’s hard for you to envision that for yourself.</p> <p><strong>You also write that about 75 percent of white physicians say race doesn’t affect the treatment of patients; the perception among black physicians is almost the reverse. Who’s right?</strong></p> <p>It makes sense that well-educated doctors wouldn’t acknowledge bias in their work. Still, we’re all lured into “framing,” or generalized judgments of individualized cases: Here’s one black patient with a certain set of symptoms; he must fit the pattern of previous black patients. On the flip side, African Americans may see an issue embedded in race that’s really embedded in class. In any case, the doctor needs to be sensitive to patient perception. The doctor can have the perfect treatment regimen. But if the patient perceives a bias, that’s going to affect how the two of them connect, and how likely it is that the regimen will be followed.</p> <p><strong>One theme you address is that “Being black can be bad for your health,” in areas ranging from childhood obesity to heart disease and diabetes. How do we turn that around?</strong></p> <p>Education in areas like nutrition is a big need, and so is access to health care. African Americans are less likely to have a primary-care doctor; they may not have health insurance or the ability to pay for tests and medications. Economic disparities are a major factor behind all of this. And we’ve got to find ways to improve the doctor-patient relationship.</p> <p><strong>What have you learned from being on the book tour?</strong></p> <p>One thing is how much my experience has resonated with African-American doctors and medical students; people have told me, “You’ve basically written my own story.” But it’s also rewarding that so many people have been able to connect with this story—women and other racial and ethnic minorities, for example, who are not African Americans but who feel, in different ways in their own lives, like outsiders, too.</p> <p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajphhoBq9xk&amp;feature=youtu.be">Click here to watch Damon Tweedy in conversation with President Richard H. Brodhead.</a></em></p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-12-14T00:00:00-05:00">Monday, December 14, 2015</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/tweedyregular.gif" width="620" height="265" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/robert-j-bliwise" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robert J. Bliwise</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/winter-2015" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winter 2015</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-portrait field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Portrait:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-portraits/damonbookportrait_0.gif" width="250" height="300" alt="" /></figure></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498502 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/qa-damon-tweedy-md-00-race-and-medicine#comments