Browsing by Author "Thomson, Robert A. Jr."

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    Polarized Scientists? Exploring Political Differences about Religion and Science among U.S. Biologists and Physicists
    (Wiley, 2021) Mehta, Sharan Kaur; Thomson, Robert A. Jr.; Ecklund, Elaine Howard
    From the Texas textbook debate to the March for Science, visible displays of activism illuminate how deeply politicized the science‐religion interface has become. However, little is known about the extent to which scientists’ attitudes about science and religion are politicized. Using original survey data from 1,989 U.S. academic biologists and physicists, we examine the degree to which political views shape how scientists perceive the relationship between religion and science, religious authority, their personal religious identity, and views on dominant scientific theories. Findings suggest that, indeed, the science‐religion interface holds political meaning for scientists, but in different ways across the political spectrum. Specifically, for politically liberal scientists, atheism and the conflict narrative are particularly politicized belief structures, while politically conservative scientists emphasize religious identity to distinguish themselves from political liberals. Findings point to the critical role of politics in shaping scientists’ attitudes and identities, which may have implications for the scientific enterprise, both at the lab bench and in the political sphere.
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    The very ivory tower: pathways reproducing racial-ethnic stratification in US academic science
    (Taylor & Francis, 2021) Thomson, Robert A. Jr.; Salazar, Esmeralda Sánchez; Ecklund, Elaine Howard
    We theorized that income racial-ethnic stratification among academic scientists is perpetuated by inequality of scientific capital including institutional prestige, research funding, publishing, and tenure. We tested our model with original survey data of US biologists and physicists (n = 1,160). Findings indicated that white scientists reported higher incomes than non-white scientists despite no significant differences in productivity, funding, or institutional status. Black scientists reported earning the lowest pay, while Hispanic scientists reported incomes statistically similar to those of white scientists. We also observed racial-ethnic inequality in promotion to tenure, which indirectly contributed to racial-ethnic stratification in pay. While overrepresented in our sample relative to the US population, East Asian scientists experienced particular disadvantages in promotion. Our findings challenge the Model Minority Myth, and they have implications for our understanding of the reproduction of a racial order, even in science, a field characterized by explicit overtures of tolerance and inclusion.