Equity in Science

Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education

Julie R. Posselt

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781503612716, 9781503608702
• eBook ISBN: 9781503612723
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Minority Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

STEM disciplines are believed to be founded on the idea of meritocracy; recognition earned by the value of the data, which is objective. Such disciplinary cultures resist concerns about implicit or structural biases, and yet, year after year, scientists observe persistent gender and racial inequalities in their labs, departments, and programs. In Equity in Science, Julie Posselt makes the case that understanding how field-specific cultures develop is a crucial step for bringing about real change. She does this by examining existing equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts across astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, and psychology. These ethnographic case studies reveal the subtle ways that exclusion and power operate in scientific organizations and, sometimes, within change efforts themselves. Posselt argues that accelerating the movement for inclusion in science requires more effective collaboration across boundaries that typically separate people and scholars—across the social and natural sciences, across the faculty-student-administrator roles, and across race, gender, and other social identities. Ultimately this book is a call for academia to place equal value on expertise, and on those who do the work of cultural translation. Posselt closes with targeted recommendations for individuals, departments, and disciplinary societies for creating systemic, sustainable change.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Preface
• 1. Equity Work as Science
• 2. Managing Complexity in Institutional Change
• 3. Eroded Boundaries and Everyday Interactions in Geoscience Fieldwork
• 4. Impression Management and Organizational Learning in Psychology and Chemistry
• 5. Inclusive Design and Disciplinary Boundary Work in Applied Physics
• 6. Advocacy and Management in Astronomy and Physics
• 7. Retooling Science for Equity Through Cultural Translation
• Acknowledgments
• Methodological References
• Notes
• References
• Index