Committing to Racial Justice as a White Woman in STEM
Using Constructivist Grounded Theory to Explore White Activism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9017167 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Desirée Forsythe (0000-0001-5582-4427, Biological Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, California, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 942-967 |
| Publication date | 2023-10-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-1546 • E-ISSN: 1538-4640 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00221546.2023.2265285 |
| OpenAlex | W4387377738 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 37 |
There is a mountain of evidence demonstrating that students with marginalized, i.e. purposefully socially excluded, identities experience significantly worse academic and social outcomes in STEM disciplines. However, there has been less attention on how white women, who experience sexism due to their gender but are privileged due to their race, simultaneously contribute to and play a role in dismantling systemic racism. In this study, I used constructivist grounded theory to explore the process through which white women in STEM commit to racial justice both within and outside of their disciplines. Interviews with 36 white women in STEM across a range of disciplines helped build an emergent model that illustrated how participants advanced through three stages to move toward actionable anti-racist commitment. However, many participants struggled to connect STEM with their anti-racist practice, as many STEM disciplines lacked anti-racism curriculum and/or the ability to practice anti-racism within STEM. This model helps illustrate the complex process in which white women in STEM become committed to racial justice. Within STEM specifically, this research has direct implications for the importance of adding social contexts and anti-racist material directly into STEM curricula to foster anti-racist practices for future STEM professionals
Commit · Constructivist grounded theory · Grounded theory · Pedagogy · Qualitative research · Racism · Social constructivism · Social science · Sociology · White (mutation · Career Development and Diversity · Critical Race Theory in Education · Diverse Educational Innovations Studies · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology
Teaching/learning anti-racism
The Palgrave Handbook of Race and the Arts in Education
Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
A Goal Congruity Model of Role Entry, Engagement, and Exit
The Status of Women in STEM in Higher Education
From Non-racism to Anti-racism in Social Studies Teacher Education
Black Undergraduate Women and Their Sense of Belonging in STEM at Predominantly White Institutions
Acknowledging and Supplanting White Supremacy Culture in Science Communication and STEM
Science faculty conceptions of equity and their association to teaching practices
Separate Roads to Feminism
White Women, Race Matters
The Story Is Not in the Numbers
Dismantling white supremacy in environmental studies and sciences
It’s dude culture”
Critical Whiteness Studies
Conceptualizing color-evasiveness
Being Lovingly, Knowingly Ignorant
Interrogating Structural Racism in STEM Higher Education
Devalued Black and Latino Racial Identities
Mapping the Margins
Racism, whiteness, and burnout in antiracism movements
Feminism
With Constructivist Grounded Theory You Can't Hide
With Whom Do You Believe Your Lot Is Cast?' White Feminists and Racism
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |