Funding in the “Field:” An Analysis of Demographics and Methods in National Science Foundation Archaeology Grants (1955–2020)

ABSTRACT

Since Gero’s (1985) germinal article on gender inequities in archaeology, feminist archaeologists have theorized that research processes are gendered: fieldwork is masculine-coded, and lab and museum work are feminine-coded. Goldstein and colleagues (2018) revealed that while more men submit grant applications to the National Science Foundation (NSF) overall, both men and women submit more post-Ph.D. proposals for field-based than for lab-based projects. This paper expands on these data by presenting an analysis of NSF-funded project abstracts (1955–2020) focusing on 1) methods employed, 2) primary regions where research is conducted, and 3) genders and organizational affiliations of principal investigators. We demonstrate that in this dataset, the gendered lab/field divide is not statistically significant; however, there are significant correlations between the genders of PIs and the regions they study. We conclude that the gendering of archaeological methods is in flux but that inequities and gendered patterns continue to shape archaeological research.

KEYWORDS:

• Equity
• archaeology
• methods
• grants
• funding
• National Science Foundation
• gender

Acknowledgments

We thank Stewart Wilson for his invaluable assistance in creating legible figures and anonymous peer reviewers for their feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laura E. Heath-Stout

Laura E. Heath-Stout (Ph.D. 2019, Boston University) is a lecturer in the University Writing Program at Brandeis University. Her research focuses on equity and inclusion issues among archaeologists, using quantitative and qualitative methods and intersectional feminist theory.

Catherine L. Jalbert

Catherine L. Jalbert (Ph.D. 2019, Memorial University of Newfoundland) is a Senior Archaeologist with Terracon Consultants, Inc. in Austin, Texas. Her research interests include mixed methodologies, gender equity, intersectional feminism, and archaeological knowledge production and education.