The Architects And Architecture Of Knowledge: The Formation And Circulation Of Social Identities In Higher Education Research
Degree type
Graduate group
Discipline
Subject
Foucault
Governmentality
Sociology of Knowledge
Education Policy
Higher Education Administration
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Contributor
Abstract
In this dissertation, I explore the construction and reproduction of social identities (race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity) in educational policy and research. Framed through a Foucauldian genealogy of knowledge-making practices, I focus on the discourses of social identities embedded in the (re)production of data in educational research. Drawing from sociohistorical methods and bibliometrics, I examine three distinct, yet interrelated, domains. First, I explore the construction of datasets used in postsecondary research, including a federal dataset (the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) and a private nationally-representative survey of students (The Freshman Survey). Secondly, I consider the uses of data emerging from these databases by examining 21,069 peer-reviewed articles published in eleven journals of educational research. Lastly, I examine the discursive practices of of social identities in the context of a specific postsecondary institution (East University, a pseudonym), where I connect administrators’ perspectives on demographic data collection practices with emerging federal standards. Findings suggest that there is a need for increased critical data literacy to understand the points of convergence between the conceptual framing of race/ethnicity and sexual orientation/gender identity. I suggest a need for more coalitional politics in the production of educational research as a strategy to enhance how social identities are understood in contemporary educational research.