An Examination of Deficit Thinking in the Academy

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Three
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT022 (Friday)

Abstract

This study examines how deficit-oriented language in educational research has evolved over time. Deficit thinking attributes student failure to internal deficiencies rather than structural inequities (Valencia, 1997). Using over 61,000 education articles from JSTOR (1900–2022), I trace the frequency of terms such as cultural deficit, juvenile delinquent, and achievement gap and apply structural topic modeling (STM) to identify latent themes. Grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis, framing theory, and semiotics, this study shows how deficit discourse adapts across time, illuminating how academic knowledge production reproduces racialized hierarchies under the guise of objectivity.

Author

• Brein Mosely, Harvard University