Julie R Posselt

Equity in Science

Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Equity in Science informs the movement for inclusion in science through case studies of scientists working to reduce inequities in courses, departments, and disciplines. Tagline: People are not particles. Creating equity in science has a science all its own.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 240
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. September 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 157mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 369g
• ISBN-13: 9781503612716
• ISBN-10: 1503612716
• Artikelnr.: 57168666

Autorenporträt

Julie R. Posselt is Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
1Equity Work as Science
chapter abstract
This chapter introduces the social problems and perspectives for
understanding them that the rest of the book will employ. It defines
culture and cultural change within the academy, with a focus on the tension
between entrenched beliefs in meritocracy and objectivity and evidence that
compromises to those values preserve the underrepresentation of some
groups. It outlines quantitative evidence for the importance of graduate
education and explanations for inequities within graduate education. It
concludes with a call to use systems thinking in pursuing institutional
change toward equity and inclusion.
2Managing Complexity in Institutional Change
chapter abstract
This chapter lays out three theoretical perspectives relevant to managing
the inherent complexity of institutional change for equity in graduate
education. It begins with Karl Weick's small-wins approach, which calls for
a reframing of daunting social problems, bringing them to a scale at which
cognitive arousal and frustration do not undermine efforts to solve them.
Recognizing this perspective does not enable the coordination required to
prioritize or link the many small wins that cultural change requires. The
author then draws directly from complexity theory, particularly Karen
Barad's philosophical implications of quantum dynamics to consider their
relevance for change efforts; this begs a reconceptualization of core ideas
for social science, such as reality, agency, continuity, and change.
Finally, I link the relational of change emerging from quantum dynamics
with the relational sociology theory of symbolic and social boundaries, and
explore implications for educational inequality.
3Eroded Boundaries and Everyday Interactions in Geoscience Fieldwork
chapter abstract
In this first chapter of findings, I present ethnographic evidence from a
graduate-level, interdisciplinary geoscience field course that shows how
geoscience's disciplinary culture may be used either for or against
inclusion. Erosion of typical boundaries and the collective experience of
science outdoors can attract students to this type of work and to the
discipline. However, field culture has been and continues to align with
traditional visions of masculinity by privileging norms like toughness, and
then uses the expectation of toughness to justify alcohol consumption that
reduces inhibitions, following which women are frequently targeted. Women
play a supporting role in this culture while men dominate leadership and
the "sonic space." Power and voice-in leadership and everyday
communication-are disproportionately in the hands of men. Patterns of
routine communication diminish women's voices and basic concerns in ways
that institutionalize silence about other compromises to their inclusion.
4Impression Management and Organizational Learning in Psychology and
Chemistry
chapter abstract
This chapter compares chemistry and psychology PhD programs' efforts to
increase diversity among students by changing the image of the program and
their admissions and recruitment practices. Chemistry successfully learned
its way into a virtuous cycle, through which change itself became
normative. The psychology program failed and instead created a vicious
cycle in which failure to improve departmental climate meant that students
of color who did enroll struggled to offer a positive report to prospective
students. Differences between the two programs' trajectories that account
for their different outcomes include the time they dedicated to creating
change, momentum on the type of diversity they sought, faculty engagement
versus ambivalence, and most fundamentally, leaders' embedding learning and
change toward equity into the fabric of department life. The chapter
presents insights into the organization and trajectories of graduate
programs as well as the change strategies departments deploy to change who
enrolls.
5Inclusive Design and Disciplinary Boundary Work in Applied Physics
chapter abstract
This chapter presents a case study of a PhD program in applied physics that
over decades has tried to distinguish itself from typical physics programs
by rethinking policies, practices, and relations to be more inclusive.
Indeed, willingness and effort to alter traditional intellectual,
organizational, social, and professional boundaries was at the core of
their success facilitating access and inclusion in a field known for
inequality. The program institutionalized a flexible, interdisciplinary
intellectual paradigm; it reformed admissions and recruitment to align with
its vision of the ideal student; it empowered administrative staff to serve
as cultural translators across racial and faculty-student boundaries; and
it worked to create close relationships that would set the program apart
from the more hierarchical, impersonal dynamics in other physics programs.
The chapter closes with principles from Universal Design that may be
applied to PhD programs looking for ways to become more inclusive.
6Advocacy and Management in Astronomy and Physics
chapter abstract
This chapter examines resources and barriers to equity work inherent in the
cultures of physics and astronomy, two fields that, though adjacent, have
distinctive qualities that manifest in how they are seeking equity and
inclusion. The comparison, focused on field-level activities undertaken by
disciplinary societies to reduce inequalities and improve inclusion in
graduate education, highlights the potential and limits of change that
comes about from the top down and the bottom up. The managerial culture of
diversity and equity work by the American Physical Society comes with
resources and constraints very different from those of the advocacy culture
in the American Astronomical Society. Disciplinary societies have untapped
potential for encouraging discipline-wide change toward more equitable
graduate training, and the reasons for this potential are suggested by
considering varieties of institutional isomorphism.
7Retooling Science for Equity Through Cultural Translation
chapter abstract
This chapter pulls together lessons learned from the case studies, to
highlight the need for a relational, multiple-level approach to
institutional change. Two key mechanisms, cultural retooling and cultural
translation, are relevant both for groups seeking change within academic
departments and for cross-sector collaborative change efforts. These
cultural processes distinguish reform from institutional change, and
require different skills and knowledge from what we typically provide
scholars in their training and professional development. Two examples of
cultural retooling-for holistic review in evaluation and holistic support
in interactions-bring together new mind-sets for serving students with new
practices for enabling access and success. I close with concrete
recommendations for teams that are working on equity issues, including ways
to manage resistance to change, as well as theory implications about
entanglements and boundaries across disciplinary and other cultural
differences.