Diversity Is an Asset to Science Not a Threat

In this paper, Critical Realism is used as a theoretical framework to show that diversity is an asset to science not a threat. Critical Realism situates the reliability and reproducibility of science in the realm of the real and thus relocates the notion of “objectivity” from the person of the scien...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies 2022-09, Vol.4 (2), p.96-113
Main Author: Blackie, Margaret A. L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Realism
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this paper, Critical Realism is used as a theoretical framework to show that diversity is an asset to science not a threat. Critical Realism situates the reliability and reproducibility of science in the realm of the real and thus relocates the notion of “objectivity” from the person of the scientist to the process of science. This means that it no longer necessary to attempt to minimise the person of the scientist in pursuit of rigorous knowledge. The implication is that diversity both in terms of intellectual training (within limits) and in terms of being multicultural, gender, sexuality, multilingual, is revealed to be an asset. This is because the construction of knowledge draws on personal experience and having people with divergent experience interrogating the same problem is more likely to provide a reliable, reproducible solution. In the latter parts of the paper, the implications for teaching are described. In addition, it is demonstrated that this argument can be extended into different knowledge areas.
ISSN:2516-550X
2516-5518
DOI:10.13169/intecritdivestud.4.2.0096