About Me:
Strengthening educational practices within and across communities, as well as my own personal commitment to diversity, equity, and social justice in education, are primary motivating factors for why I do what I do, and are the manifestations of how I define myself as a scholar, a teacher, and a person. These commitments are central to my current doctoral research and my service to the community.
My research emerges out of equity concerns in science education. In the United States, there exist longstanding inequalities in the science workforce, and in higher education, especially for underrepresented ethnic and racial minority groups. Mainstream education policy frames the issue as an “achievement gap” problem, which assumes improvements in content knowledge to be the solution. Are we to assume that if all students performed equally well on standardized exams, underrepresentation would cease to exist? In order to better understand underrepresentation, we need to understand how the culture of school science shapes the understanding of one’s place in—or in relation to—science…one’s “school science identity”. Perceptions of “science people” are influenced by powerful cultural models, of who “science people” are, and who they are supposed to be. Importantly, students draw on these cultural models in ways that can either encourage or constrain the understanding of themselves as competent/successful “science people”.
I firmly believe that in order to achieve truly equitable outcomes in science education, it is crucial that educators, policymakers, and researchers become equally concerned with the conditions that guide and shape how, when, and why diverse groups of students learn in meaningful ways, in addition to what students learn.
I understand the necessity to traverse traditional disciplinary borders when addressing contemporary challenges that require complex solutions. Equitable science education represents one such challenge.
Area(s) of Training
anthropology, applied anthropology, cultural anthropology, ethnography, other
Area(s) of Expertise
Anthropology; Biology; Education; Science Studies
Current Area of Employment
Higher Education/Research
