Empiricism and the Persistent Gender-Gap in Science: Still?

Empiricism is the idea that knowledge comes from direct observation and experience rather than just theory or speculation.

In an insightful analysis, Prescod-Weinstein looks at how white-centered perspectives affect the careers of Black women in physics. It highlights how racism and sexism intersect to create unique challenges for Black women. In order to look at the unique problems Black women in science, this paper uses Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory, which is pivotal to exploring the specific difficulties encountered by Black women in the scientific realm.

Prescod-Weinstein uses a qualitative method, drawing on a mix of personal experiences, scholarly research, and historical context, to look at the lives of Black women physicists. This approach allows a critique of the processes by which scientific knowledge is crafted, and of the exclusionary actions that affect Black women and hinder their professional advancement.

Prescod-Weinstein shows how white empiricism keeps systemic biases alive in physics, making it harder for Black women scientists to be represented and further their scientific contributions. The article makes it clear how important it is to see and fight the systems of power that give certain identities more weight in scientific discussion.

To conclude, the article asks for a fundamental shift in scientific practice towards inclusivity, recognizing the transformative power of feminist theories like intersectionality, which can challenge prevalent perspectives on the production of knowledge. It emphasizes how important it is to see things from different, diverse points of view when performing scientific research and generating new knowledge.

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Study Details

Sample size(s): N/A

Participants: Black women physicists and scientists

Design: Qualitative Study

Reference:

Prescod-Weinstein, C. (2020). Making Black Women Scientists under White Empiricism: The Racialization of Epistemology in Physics. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 45(2), 421–447.

Summarized by WinSights team member Nida Sahi

Edited by: Margie Christ, Bilal Rashid