Laura Ellen Heath-Stout

In Career Arcs: Identity, Oppression, and Diversity in Archaeology, I present an intersectional, qualitative study of how racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, and ableism shape the demographics of archaeology, and the knowledge that archaeologists produce. I examine the personal narratives of over seventy diverse archaeologists, with whom I conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews. I demonstrate that intersecting systemic oppressions deeply shape who enters archaeological careers, the conditions of those careers, and the research archaeologists pursue. On the disciplinary level, our homogenous demographics limit the knowledge of past human societies that archaeologists produce. I offer strategies for marginalized archaeologists to build successful careers and for established scholars to support the creation of a discipline as diverse as the past peoples we study.