Given popular depictions, you would be forgiven for assuming that the type of scientist is not the type of religious person. Consider the popular television show “The Big Bang Theory,” which follows friends who almost all have advanced degrees in physics, biology or neuroscience. The main character, Sheldon, a physicist who generally disdains religion, is sided with his devout Christian mother, who is uninterested and uninformed about science.
Such stereotypes reinforce the idea that religion and science are not only different but also in conflict with each other. But social scientists have found that the vast majority of the U.S. public does not actually view religion and science as conflicting. When religion appears to reduce individuals’ acceptance of scientific ideas, it is often not because of the facts themselves. Rather, religious individuals’ objections are often based on the moral implications of this research or the perceived role of scientists in policymaking.
And many scientists are religious, challenging assumptions that faith and science are inherently in conflict. Take Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, who was open about his Christian beliefs.
On the other hand, religious people face difficulties when working in the field of science. These difficulties have little to do with internal struggles over trite issues such as the origins of human life. Instead, religious scholars more often report hostility from peers and a professional culture that creates challenges for other life goals, such as starting a family.
I reached this conclusion after surveying more than 1,300 U.S. graduate students in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and sociology, one of many sociological studies I conducted to try to understand the social dynamics of religion and science. The findings from this research are presented in my book, “The Faithful Scientist: Experiences of Anti-Religious Bias in Scientific Training,” which I published in October 2023.
Default atheism
According to my survey, 22% of science majors say they believe in God, and 20% describe themselves as “very” or “moderately” religious. These percentages are similar to those seen among science faculty, but are much less than those seen among the general U.S. public. According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, about half of Americans say they believe in “God as described in the Bible,” while a third believe in a higher power. Gallup found that 3 in 4 Americans say religion is very or fairly important in their lives.
The relatively non-religious nature of their peers and faculty may create challenges for religious graduate students. Many of the religious students I spoke with described a culture that assumed everyone in the lab or classroom was an atheist and allowed comments that were openly hostile to religion or religious people. A Christian graduate student in biology told me: “When I entered graduate school, I was truly shocked by the disrespect from both my fellow students and professors. I still feel like I have to hide that part of my life. … I don’t feel willing to open up.”
Indeed, according to a survey I created and analyzed in my book, nearly two-thirds of students who identified themselves as very religious or moderately religious agreed with the statement “people in my discipline have a negative attitude toward religion.” Nearly 40% of these students also admitted to “hiding or camouflaging” their views or identities around people in their program.
Family and career
Religious graduate students in science also face more subtle cultural conflicts.
Social science has highlighted the many challenges that academic scientists face in establishing and maintaining family lives. First, graduate and pre-tenure positions are challenging, leading many academic scientists to delay having children and have fewer children than they would like.
The highly competitive nature of academic jobs also means that scientists rarely have much say in where they live; This makes it difficult to rely on the support of grandparents and other extended family when raising a family. All of these dynamics become more difficult if a scientist partners with another scientist; this is often called the “two-body problem”.
These challenges are especially notable for religious graduate students. Research by many scientists has shown that religion affects individuals’ attitudes and behaviors on issues such as how many children they want to have.
In fact, my book’s research found that 23% of liberal arts graduates who described themselves as very religious already had at least one child. This rate is 12% among moderately religious people, 7% among slightly religious people, and 6% among those who say they are not religious. More religious students expressed a greater desire to have additional children in the future.
These patterns have implications for career paths. My survey asked participants to rate the importance of career, partnership, and parenting on a four-point scale. On average, religious students did not place less importance on careers than their less religious peers, but they did place more importance on their family lives. This emphasis on family is associated with reduced intentions to pursue research-focused tenure-track positions. All else being equal, students who say family goals are “very important” to them are 12% less likely to say they plan to pursue such a position than students who say such family goals are “not important” to them.
Benefits of religious diversity
Many people may overlook these challenges because religion is generally not part of the debate about supporting and increasing diversity in science.
But at the very least, making derogatory comments or otherwise showing hostility toward a person’s religion (as many of my participants said they experienced) can violate anti-discrimination and harassment laws.
Moreover, dimensions of diversity are not isolated from each other. Data collected for my book reveals that female and black graduate students in science are significantly more likely to identify as religious than male and white students. For example, 23 percent of Black students I surveyed described themselves as “very religious,” compared to 7.3% of white students. Ignoring religion as a dimension of diversity has the potential to undermine efforts to support other forms of diversity in science.
I think religious diversity can bring other benefits to the scientific community. Given the increasing importance of work-family issues among religious scientists, these individuals may be important actors in changing norms and policies that improve work-life balance for all scientists.
Similarly, religious scientists can also serve as ambassadors, or what sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund calls “bridge builders” between scientific and religious communities.
In the short term, graduate programs in the sciences can evaluate how they approach and talk about religion, keeping in mind that approximately 1 in 5 of their students are likely religious.
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent, nonprofit news organization providing facts and analysis to help you understand our complex world.
Written by: Christopher P. Scheitle, West Virginia University.
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The research presented in this article was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Award #1749130, Christopher P. Scheitle, Principal Investigator).