Colorblind Science? Perceptions of the Importance of Diversity in Science Research

• In Event: 431 - Regular Session. Sociology of Knowledge: Organizing Scholarly Knowledge

Abstract

There is a large body of scientific careers literature on the experiences of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields and why they exit the academic pipeline at various stages (see McGee and Keller, 2007; Summers and Hrabowski 2006; Seymour and Hewitt, 1997). These studies commonly address how to improve racial diversity in science but provide little discussion of why that diversity is important. Feminist science studies scholars, on the other hand, have theorized about the importance of diversity in knowledge production for decades but provide little empirical work on how to address current disparities. This research bridges these two literatures using an empirical case study. Based on interviews with federally-funded diversity program directors at universities and archival data from these programs, I find that official rationales for funding diversity programs are changing to include more epistemic arguments over time. When asked why diversity is important for science research, program directors have different responses that can be classified into three categories: diversity is important politically, diversity is important pragmatically, and diversity is important epistemically. I argue that studying diversity in scientific knowledge production is different than studying the impacts of diversity in other fields due to current conceptions of scientific objectivity. Scholarship on scientific knowledge production can assist diversity program directors and science career scholars better articulate the need for diversity programming in STEM fields.

Author

• Kellie Owens, Northwestern University