Developmental Science in the Twenty-First Century: Eschewing Segregated Science and Integrating Cultural and Racial Processes into Research

Abstract

In this chapter, we situate the need for a book on the intersection of developmental and diversity science with an eye on methods, collaboration, and implications. We first provide an overview of the global demographic shifts in race and ethnicity and its accompanying impact on global perceptions. We then turn to considering how developmental science has attended to issues of diversity with regards to race and ethnicity concluding that, for the most part, developmental science practices color-evasiveness in its approach assuming universality with minimal attention to cultural and racial process (except for at times when samples are described). We highlight theories that can inform the integration of diversity and developmental science, and showcase recent developmental scientific work that has integrated cultural and racial processes leading to greater depth of understanding. We conclude by pointing to how chapters in this book can help developmental scientist take a next step in their research and make a commitment to the integration of diversity and developmental science.