The Faithful Scientist: Experiences of Anti-Religious Bias in Scientific Training

The Faithful Scientist explores the challenges and biases faced by religious individuals pursuing advanced education and careers in science, highlighting the importance of fostering diversity in the scientific workforce to benefit all populations.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 02 January 2024
Publisher: New York University Press

Science is often seen as conflicting with religion, and it is true that scientists, particularly those working at universities, are generally much less religious than the average American adult. So, what is it like to be a religious individual pursuing an advanced education and career in science?

Featuring engaging interviews and survey data from over 1,300 PhD students in the natural and social sciences, The Faithful Scientist reveals that the core challenge is not reconciling contradictions between faith-based beliefs and scientific knowledge. Instead, it is the bias that budding scientific practitioners face from their colleagues if they are religious.

These dynamics are important for science as a field, and ultimately for those who engage with or benefit from the results of scientific research. There are real benefits to fostering diversity in science, which may lead to more useful discoveries for populations who have generally not been the focus of research. And women, Black, and Latina/o people tend to be more religious than their white male peers, meaning that diversifying the gender, ethnic, and racial composition of the scientific workforce likely requires diversifying the religious composition too.

This book offers vital empirical data that provide insight into what it means to support and foster religious diversity in science.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 160 x 239 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479823710