Textbook - Chapter 1 Flashcards
Who directed the study “A scientist like me: demographic analysis of biology textbooks reveals both progress and long-term lags?”
Dr. Cissy Ballen, but Sara Wood was lead author (undergraduate student!)
What did Dr. Ballen’s team specifically document in their study?
Documented the names listed in the appendices of seven commonly assigned biology textbooks to identify the gender and race of featured scientists
What was the motivation for Dr. Ballen’s research?
- textbooks are essential for undergraduate education, such books are vital in shaping our understanding of an academic discipline
- consequently, textbooks play a significant role in shaping students’ perceptions of who advances knowledge in any given discipline
what were the 2 main research questions the team asked?
[1] does the proportion of women scientists in biology textbooks represent active biologists?
[2] is the representation of scientists in biology textbooks comparable to the representation of gender and race in the student population in the United States?
Which male names were common across all of the studied textbooks? Which female names were common across 3/7 of the textbooks?
- Carolus Linnaeus, Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel in all of the studied textbooks
- the names of female researchers Hopi Hoekestra, Jane Goodall and Rosemary Grant
What disparity was found in Dr. Ballen’s research?
- disparity in the representation of female scientists compared to their male counterparts
What additional findings were identified in relation to identification/presence in workforce
- the research of women biologists was proportional to the number of women identified biologists in the scientific workforce.
*In other words, although women were underrepresented in the studied textbooks, their contributions to biology were reflected in relation to their presence in the scientific community
What % representation of scientists across textbooks were woman and male scientists, and which % were scientists from minority groups? What conclusion did this lead to?
- 13.1 % women
- 86.9% male
*1:7 ratio! - 6.67% minority
*such statistics do not reflect the demographic makeup of the general population or biology student population in the United States
Using statistical models, the team made the prediction that women representation in textbooks could reflect the general U.S. population (insert percentage of population) in about _, but will not represent biology students (insert percentage) for another _
49%, 10 years, 60%, 18 years
if textbook citations from Black and African American scientists continue at the same rate, it may take over _ years to match the general population in the United States (insert percentage), and nearly _ years to reflect the biology student population (insert percentage).
1000 years, 14%, 500 years, 7.7%
For Hispanic and Latinx scientists, the researchers projected _ years to match public representation (insert percentage) and _ years to match the student population
45, 16%, 30
What positive finding was found related to the proportion of women highlighted in textbooks? What caveat does this come with?
- the proportion of women highlighted in textbooks has increased in lockstep with the proportion of women in the field, indicating that textbooks are matching a changing demographic landscape
*despite this, the scientists portrayed in textbooks are not representative of their target audience—the student population (may take multiple centuries to reach representation)
What should textbook publishers do to reflect the diverse population of learners in biology? What about educators?
expand upon the scientists they highlight
- educators: increase discussions that raise the profile of researchers with diverse backgrounds
- including counter-stereotypical examples of scientists by using tools such as Scientist Spotlights and Project Biodiversity
