Overcoming Systemic Barriers in US Forensic Anthropology Education
Considering Underlying Barriers to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Forensic Anthropology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24314186 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Taylor S Borgelt (0000-0002-6247-7045, Department of Anthropology Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana USA), Jesse R Goliath (0000-0002-8078-7450, Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures Mississippi State University Starkville Mississippi USA), Erin B Waxenbaum (0000-0001-5374-0270, Department of Anthropology Northwestern University Evanston Illinois USA) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 187 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | e70069-e70069 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Biological Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2692-7691 • E-ISSN: 2692-7691 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.70069 |
| PMID | 40452621 |
| OpenAlex | W4410967105 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 61 |
The experience of disparity—relative to race, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, and others—in higher education is deeply connected to legacies of structural harm and stratification. The presence and impact of this harm in education cannot be understated and is important to recognize when considering what our classrooms look like and why. Contending with instances of disparity in higher education and professional spaces extends beyond just valuing diversity in recruitment—gathering a diverse student group and/or workforce without actionable avenues for inclusion and equity in retention (not fostering, supporting, or valuing a tangibly safe space) is a way in which harm and systemic barriers are perpetuated. This commentary applies across disciplines, though this paper deals with specific examples within and discussion of forensic anthropology education within the United States. To work toward the mitigation of systemic barriers and instances of exclusion within forensic anthropology, a number of things need to be addressed, such as (but not limited to) critically engaging with notions of objectivity in theoretical and educational discussions and the performed depersonalization of reflexivity within the subfield. Relevant to the theory around materialization, understanding how these instances and concepts impact how forensic practice is done is important in wanting to ameliorate education for marginalized and/or vulnerable people (students, practitioners, etc.) within the subfield. How the subfield and its central concepts are conceptualized, and then disseminated, matters for the actualization of inclusive spaces and the alleviating of barriers within the discipline.
diversity, equity, and inclusion · marginalized students · materialization · Objectivity · Reflexivity · sense of belonging · structural harm · student retention · systemic barriers · Career Development and Diversity · Critical Race Theory in Education · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
Standardizing Advanced Training in Forensic Anthropology
Exercises in ethically engaged work in biological anthropology
Toward Ethical Digital Practices
Writing Feminist Autoethnography
Data Feminism
Perceptions of Race and Ancestry in Teaching, Research, and Public Engagement in Biological Anthropology
Discourse on Colonialism
Critical Analysis of the Production of Western Knowledge and Its Implications for Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization
Caroline Bond Day (1889–1948)
Race and diversity in U.S. Biological Anthropology
A history of forensic anthropology
Three perspectives on race and human variation
The constraints of racialization
The need to incorporate human variation and evolutionary theory in forensic anthropology
Uncloaking a Lost Cause
Dear Science and Other Stories
Vulnerabilities for Marginalized Groups in the United States Forensic Anthropology Education System
Speaking of Sex
Speaking Truth to Power
Shifting the Forensic Anthropological Paradigm to Incorporate the Transgender and Gender Diverse Community
On Weird Anthropologists and Their White Skeletons
Exploring Educational Needs beyond Technical Competency
Centering Transgender Individuals in Forensic Anthropology and Expanding Binary Sex Estimation in Casework and Research
Pioneers of Color
Diversity and Inclusion in Forensic Anthropology
Guest Editor's Introduction
Standpoint theory, situated knowledge and the situated imagination
Open access violence
Graduate Students of Color
Decolonizing Research Paradigms in the Context of Settler Colonialism
Intrinsic Social and Political Bias in the History of American Physical Anthropology
The Persistent Power of "Race" in the Cultural and Political Economy of Racism
Beyond Fact or Fiction
A Black exit interview from anthropology
Barriers to entry and success in forensic anthropology
Postmortem Racialization
The Evidence of Experience
Ideology, Materialization, and Power Strategies
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |