Science is carried out by experts. More than a century ago, the rise of German universities as forerunners of the modern research university created a model whereby certification—usually in the form of a doctorate—creates a class of working scientists. This approach suggests that the work of science is being carried out by the meritorious few, a class that anyone, through hard work, can join and contribute to.
But, as is often the case, merit is not exactly what it seems at first glance. In the past 50 years, the proportion of U.S. PhD students who have a parent with a post-graduate degree has tripled. For most fields, more than half of PhD students have parents with post-graduate degrees, and fewer than a fifth have parents without a four-year degree. When one recognizes that fewer than 40% of Americans have a four-year college degree, it becomes clear that the work of science continues to be carried out by a very select slice of the population.
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