Mitigating Against Epistemic Injustice in Educational Research

Abstract

In this article, I argue that Harvey Siegel correctly points out the limitations of epistemic diversity in educational research. Building from Siegel’s analysis, I argue that we need to move away from the language of epistemic diversity and to the language of epistemic injustice. Epistemic injustice allows us to do the work that epistemic diversity sets out to do—that is, creating more inclusive epistemic practices that lead to more accurate descriptions of the world—without leading to the untenable and unjustified conclusions that follow from using the language of epistemic diversity. Drawing on recent work in feminist epistemology, I describe epistemic injustice and argue for its significance. I conclude by drawing out the implications of epistemic injustice for educational researchers.