Genetics and Education: Recent Developments in the Context of an Ugly History and an Uncertain Future

Oct 15, 2026

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Genetics and Education examines how recent advances in genetics, especially molecular genetic data and genome-wide association studies, intersect with education research. The work reviews earlier harmful linkages between genetics and schooling, then evaluates current possibilities, benefits, and risks from combining molecular genetics with educational outcomes. It addresses educator decision-making when genetic predictions are involved, emphasizing equity, public engagement, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and careful research designs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Historical context and harmful intersections

Current era of molecular genetics research

Implications for educators and equity

AERA Open January-March 2019, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 1–15 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858418810516 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2019. [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Genetics and Education: Recent Developments in the Context of an Ugly History and an Uncertain Future Daphne Martschenko University of Cambridge Sam Trejo Benjamin W. Domingue Stanford University Driven by our recent mapping of the human genome, genetics research is increasingly prominent and beginning to reintersect with education research. We describe previous intersections of these fields, focusing on the ways that they were harmful. We then discuss novel features of genetics research in the current era, with an emphasis on possibilities deriving from the availability of molecular genetic data and the proliferation of genome-wide association studies. We discuss both the promises and potential pitfalls resulting from the convergence of molecular genetic research and education research. The floodgates of genetic data have opened. Collaboration between those in the social and biomedical sciences; open conversation among policy makers, educators, and researchers; and public engagement will all prove critical for enacting regulations and research designs that emphasize equity. Keywords: genetics, education research, adversarial collaboration, equity, molecular genetics, polygenic score SuppoSe it’s the year 2025. You are a school administrator responsible for making decisions regarding the allocation of educational resources. Two parents come to your office concerned about their kindergartener; their family doctor has suggested that the child has a genetic makeup that indicates a high risk for developing dyslexia in a few years’ time. The parents worry that their child will start falling behind in reading soon; indeed, dyslexia diagnoses typically occur too late for optimal intervention (Ozernov-Palchik & Gaab, 2016) . Thus, the parents request that learning supports be put into place immediately (e.g., one-on-one reading coaching with a teacher’s aide). Resources are scarce, but you want to ensure that every student has the best opportunity for learning. Is this a reasonable request? How well do genes predict dyslexia? Is prediction of equal quality for children from marginalized groups? What do you do? While research into appropriate answers to these questions is still underway, we think that it is important for educators to begin to contemplate them. The field of genetics is going to affect education and, as a consequence, education research. Given the sudden ubiquity of genetic data and the great public interest that genetics has garnered, we believe that this is inevitable. The described scenario—the diagnosis of learning disabilities—seems a likely candidate for the intersection between the fields given that many learning disabilities involve a medical diagnosis. However, as we discuss, there are other potential points of intersection, including the use of genetic predictors to study a range of nonmedicalized human behaviors and conditions. Discourses involving genetics are not altogether new to education. Arguments about genes, cognition, and group differences, for example, were prominent in the latter half of the 20th century—for instance, the debate surrounding “The Bell Curve”(Devlin, Fienberg, Resnick, & Roeder, 2013; Heckman, 1995; Herrnstein & Murray, 2010; Jencks & Phillips, 2011; Neisser et al., 1996)—and they have resurfaced recently in popular media (Harris, 2017; Kahn et al., 2018; Klein, 2018; Reich, 2018; Saletan, 2018; Turkheimer, Harden, & Nisbett, 2017) . Much of the recent interest is driven by our rapid accumulation of vast amounts of molecular genetic data and the possibilities associated with such data. Whether the reemergence of genetics as an issue in education ma

FAQs

How do recent genetics findings intersect with education research?

The article describes how molecular genetic data and genome-wide association studies increasingly re-connect genetics research with education research, shaping new lines of inquiry and decision-making.

What harms from earlier genetics-education links are highlighted?

It emphasizes that previous intersections between these fields were harmful, motivating a historically informed assessment of current developments.

What equity-related concerns does the article raise for genetic prediction in schools?

It questions whether genes predict dyslexia equally well for children from marginalized groups and argues that collaboration and regulations should prioritize equity in research design and application.

Oct 15, 2026

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