In the Backrooms of Science

Abstract

This article presents data from an ethnographic study of science technicians. The article proposes a model of the science technician's role as broker in a serially interdependent occupational division of labor and then contextualizes the model by examining how technicians conceptualize and manage troubles that arise in the course of scientific procedures. The data suggest that technicians possess most of a lab's contextual knowledge and skill and that technicians, therefore, play a critical role in the production of scientific knowledge. Because contextual knowledge carries less status than formal knowledge, however, technicians experience status inconsistencies. The implications of such status inconsistencies for the transition to an increasingly technical workforce are discussed.