Articulations of Investment: Connecting Feminist STS with Women in STEM Conversations

• In Event: Regenerating Research Culture: Feminist STS Approaches to STEM Graduate Methods

Abstract

What “doors” tend to be open for collaborations between feminist STS scholars and our STEM colleagues? In other words, what are the sites of investment that offer the promise of connecting our mutual knowledge? The Feminist Research Institute at UC Davis was charged with using feminist research to build bridges between STEM and social sciences/humanities when it was created four years ago. The university believes that feminist theory, and feminist STS in particular, has much to offer STEM researchers in expanding the scope and social impact of their work. A key challenge to doing this work has been establishing common ground, both in establishing mutual goals and interests and in coming to a sense of what feminism and feminist research means. The work of feminist STS scholars is deeper and more wide-ranging than questions of representation in STEM fields, and we’ve explored how to shift the expectations and framings of our STEM collaborators. When we begin conversations, STEM faculty tend to be invested in questions of women’s inclusion, pedagogy, mentoring, and women as research subjects. Conversations also sometimes include considerations of social factors, distinctions in sex vs. gender, intersectionality, and doing research that has a social impact. Graduate education training is a key vehicle through which to articulate investments in representation toward examinations of systems of knowledge production and power. This talk will share the methods utilized and lessons learned in engaging STEM and faculty graduate students in moving with their concerns to questions of expertise, training, power, and knowledge production in their field and research.

Author

• Sarah Rebolloso McCullough, Feminist Research Institute, UC Davis