Evaluating Representation in Science Through a Peer-Reviewed Research Study

The demographic representation of scientists featured in biology curricular materials do not match that of the undergraduate biology student population or of the U.S. population. In this lesson, we promote awareness of inequity in science through an exercise that encourages students to think about who is depicted as scientists in science curricular materials—specifically, biology textbooks. After a brief lecture on the scientific method, students read an excerpt from the introduction of a peer-reviewed publication that provides background information on the importance of representation in science. Next, students collect data from their own biology textbook about the representation of scientists who possess different identities and make a table depicting their results. Then, students fill in predictive graphs about demographic representation over time with respect to scientist identities including perceived gender and race/ethnicity. Students compare their predictions with the results from the peer-reviewed article and discuss the implications of the results. Finally, students apply their new knowledge by designing an experiment that would examine representation of an alternative scientist identity, such as age. Students conclude by answering questions that gauge their knowledge of the scientific method. This activity uses a peer-reviewed publication as well as authentic data generated by the student to increase ideological awareness and teach societal influences on the process of science. Primary Image: Many stacked textbooks. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons on May 30, 2023 by authors.