Beyond the White Space: Racialized Barriers and Transformative Potential in Critical Quantitative Research

• In Event: Critical Epistemologies and Methodologies: Reclaiming Knowledge, Story, and Belonging Across Educational Spaces

Abstract

This study explores how scholars engaging in critical quantitative and computational methodologies (critQCM) navigate the racialized barriers embedded within quantitative research. Using a grounded theory approach and focus groups, we examine how racialized methodological trajectories restrict scholars’ agency and how critQCM offers transformative potential to reclaim quantitative methods for equity and justice. Findings reveal systemic gatekeeping, racialization of methodological choices, and the need for culturally responsive mentorship. Our study contributes to reimagining quantitative inquiry as a tool for decolonization and equity oriented futures in education research, resonating with calls to “unforget histories” and construct transformative pathways forward.

Authors

• Ebony O. McGee, Johns Hopkins University

• Odis Johnson, Johns Hopkins University

• Darnell Leatherwood, University of Michigan

• Diondraya Taylor, University of California - Los Angeles

• Zariah Nicole, Johns Hopkins University