Racial Differences in Promotion, Publication, and Pay among U.S. Physicists and Biologists

• In Event: 1284 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Discrimination and Its Rippling Effects

Abstract

While the academy tends to hold diversity as a virtue, it often struggles with inclusion. Racial minorities remain underrepresented within science, and some evidence indicates that racial minorities face barriers in a scientific career that white scientists do not. We theorize a model of racial stratification comprised of three pathways distinct to a scientific career, namely career promotion, research funding, and publication frequency. We tested our theorized model with data from the Religion Among Scientists in International Context study, which included a survey of U.S. biologists and physicists (N=1,989). Findings generally supported hypotheses that white scientists held advantages in terms of promotion, research funding, publication, and pay. Specifically, while white scientists had higher incomes than all racial minority groups, two of the three hypothesized pathways (i.e., career stage and publication frequency) explained differences in pay except for those between white and black scientists. Further, the precise pathways for each racial group varied somewhat, suggesting heterogeneity among processes related to discrimination and mentorship by racial group. Our findings have implications for our understanding of the perpetuation of a racial order, even in fields characterized by explicit overtures of tolerance and inclusion.

Authors

• Robert A. Thomson, Rice University

• Esmeralda Sanchez, Rice University