The Geneticization of Education: ethical, social, and policy implications of polygenic scores for educational attainment

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Project Summary This proposal addresses the psychosocial impacts of a new kind of genetic information currently available to the general public: polygenic scores for educational attainment (EA-PGS). Available for purchase via a growing number of third-party, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies, an EA-PGS provides information about an individual’s genetic propensity for completing years of schooling. To the extent that it is a genetic predictor of a complex outcome with major social and environmental causes, EA-PGS research represents a “geneticization” of education that engenders a host of difficult ELSI questions to be addressed by this K01 proposal. Who seeks out EA-PGS and why? How do DTC customers interpret and use their results? How does exposure to EA-PGS research impact public attitudes toward education and schooling, including attitudes about racial/ethnic disparities in education? To address these questions, this proposal includes a plan of empirical research, including (Aim 1) qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with individuals who have recently received EA-PGS results via DTC genetic testing company, Geneplaza, and (Aim 2) quantitative research involving surveys of key stakeholder groups (students, parents of students, and educators) randomized to read stories from the popular media emphasizing either EA-PGS or social influences on education. Finally, this proposal includes (Aim 3) a plan of conceptual research, involving development of an ethical framework on the potential harms and benefits of the geneticization of education, developed through consultation with an expert advisory council of prominent scholars in education policy, ethics, and genetics. Building on the PI’s strong background in behavior genetics and philosophy of science, these aims will be achieved with an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods career development plan that includes training and coursework in quantitative methods, qualitative methods, and bioethics. The career development plan is supported by a team of highly experienced and esteemed Columbia University and Hastings Center scholars with expertise in qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and bioethics: Paul Appelbaum, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Ruth Ottman, and Josephine Johnston.