Genetic Essentialism: How Science Education Shapes Perceptions of Race and Gender

This book examines how science education can either reinforce or counteract genetic essentialism, a misperception that social groups share genes which determine their cognitive and behavioral characteristics. The first chapter examines genetic essentialism’s key features, current manifestations and impacts, and historical precedents. The middle chapters analyze how science textbooks and curricula enable and may amplify essentialist reasoning through simplified explanations of genetics, reproductive biology, and human evolution. These chapters build a more accurate view through research in fields including anthropology, biology, education, history of science, psychology, and sociology. The final chapter compares egalitarianism and stratification across evolutionary time scales to demonstrate that inequality and essentialism are interrelated and socially constructed. The overall aim is to spotlight genetic essentialism in instructional resources and refute it through evidence and education. The book is intended for scholars and students in the human sciences, biological sciences, health and medicine, and journalism, as well as readers in any field who are interested in confronting the conceptual underpinnings of racism and sexism.