INSIDER AND OUTSIDER-WITHIN STANDPOINTS: THE EXPERIENCES OF DIVERSE FACULTY IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FIELDS

摘要

Recognizing that most science faculty in the United States are white and male, we used standpoint theory to examine the experiences of STEM faculty from five race-ethnic groups (African American/black, Asian American, Latinalo, Native American, and white) at a large research university known for its diversity initiatives. From interview data, we identified eight themes related to three different standpoints: a shared perspective on the institution as having a culture of excellence, two themes reflecting an insider standpoint, and five reflecting an outsider-within standpoint. Coding for presencelabsence of themes across interviews allowed for chi-square comparisons of various groups. As expected, we found no race-ethnic or gender differences from the common institutional standpoint that excellence is a core value. However, white faculty referred more often to insider themes, underrepresented minority faculty referred more often to outsider-within themes, and Asian/Asian American faculty referred to both insider and outsider-within themes. Intersectional comparisons with all other groups revealed that white men were more likely to refer to insider themes, and women of color were more likely to refer to outsider-within themes.