Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Genetic Essentialism: How Science Education Shapes Perceptions of Race and Gender

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

Whitaker, Elizabeth D.

Hardcover

AnthropologyBiologyGenetics

ISBN10: 104107316X
ISBN13: 9781041073161
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Aug 7 2026
Pages: 238
Weight: 1.10
Height: 0.63 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

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.

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Whitaker, Elizabeth D.

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Anthropology

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