Academic Training
Ph.D. Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1980, Anthropology
M.A. Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1975, Anthropology
B.A. Emory University, 1972, French

Honors and Awards
Phi Beta Kappa, 1972
Phi Delta Kappa, 1980
Certificate of Teaching Excellence, 1984
Phi Delta Kappa Outstanding Research Award, 1987
Dean's Outstanding Research Award, 1987
Outstanding Article of the Year
J. for Res. in Math. Educ., 1988
Faculty Teaching Fellowship, 1989-90
Fellow, American Anthropological Assocation, 1992
Scholar-in-Residence, University of Arizona, April 1992
Outstanding Article of the Year
J. for Res. in Math. Educ., 1992
Finalist, Presidential Teaching Scholar, 1993
Winner, Elizabeth Gee Award (University of Colorado) for
Outstanding Contributions to Women in Research,
Teaching, and Service, 2001

Professional Employment
1999 to present
Director, Center for Youth in Science, Culture,
and NewMedia (cy.Scan),
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

1992 to present
Professor, School of Education,
Adjunct, Department of Anthropology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

(Courses: Introduction to Disciplined Inquiry
Anthropology & Education
Ethnographic Research Methods
Women in Science and Education)

1995-98; 2001-03
Director of Graduate Studies, School of Education
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

1987-92
Associate Professor, School of Education
Adjunct, Department of Anthropology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO


1985-87
Associate Professor, College of Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Unversity
Blacksburg, VA

1980-85
Assistant Professor, College of Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Unversity
Blacksburg, VA

1979-80
Research Associate
Southern Regional Education Board
Atlanta, GA


Books Published
Levinson, B., with Borman, K., Eisenhart, M.,
Foster, M., Fox, A., and Sutton, M. (Eds.) (2000).
Schooling the symbolic animal:
Social and cultural dimensions of education.
Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 416 pages.

Eisenhart, M., Finkel, E., with Behm, L.,
Lawrence, N., & Tonso, K. (1998).
Women's Science:
Learning & succeeding from the margins.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 272 pages.

Eisenhart, M., & Borko, H. (1993).
Designing classroom research:
Themes, issues, & struggles.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 157 pages.

Holland, D. & Eisenhart, M. (1990).
Educated in romance:
Women, achievement, & campus
culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 273 pages.



Articles Published (Selected)

Anthropology and Education

Clement, D., Eisenhart, M., & Wood, J. (1976). School desegregation and educational inequality: Trends in the literature, 1960-1975. In The desegregation literature: A critical appraisal (pp. 1-77). Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Education.

Clement, D., Eisenhart, M., & Harding, J. (1979). The veneer of harmony: Social race relations in a southern desegregated school. In R.C. Rist (Ed.) Desegregated schools: Appraisals of an American experiment (pp. 15-64). New York: Academic Press.

Eisenhart, M., & Holland, D. (1983). Learning gender from peers: The role of peer groups in the cultural transmission of gender. Human Organization, 42, 321-332.

Borko, H., & Eisenhart, M. (1986). Students' conceptions of reading and their reading experiences in school. Elementary School Journal, 86, 589-611.

Eisenhart, M., Cuthbert, A., Shrum, J., & Harding, J. (1988). Teacher beliefs about their work activities: Implications for educational policy. Theory into Practice, 27, 137-144.

Holland, D., & Eisenhart, M. (1988). Women's ways of going to school: Cultural reproduction of women's identities as workers. In L. Weis (Ed.) Class, race, and gender in American education (pp. 266-301). Albany, NY: S.U.N.Y. Press.

Eisenhart, M. (1989). Reconsidering cultural differences in American schools. Educational Foundations, 3(2) 51-68.

Eisenhart, M. (1990). Learning to romance: Cultural acquisition in college. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 21(1), 19-40.

Eisenhart, M. & Cutts-Dougherty, K. (1991). Social and cultural constraints on students' access to school knowledge. In E. Hiebert (Ed.) Literacy for a diverse society: Perspectives, programs and policies (pp. 28-43). New York: Teachers College Press.

Borko, H., Eisenhart, M., Underhill, R., Brown, C., Jones, D. & Agard, P. (1992). Learning to teach hard mathematics: Do novice teachers and their instructors give up too easily? Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 23, 194-222.

Eisenhart, M. & Graue, M.E. (1992). Constructing cultural difference and educational achievement in schools. In E. Jacob and C. Jordan (Eds.) Explaining the school performance of minority students: Anthropological perspectives (pp. 165-179). Norwood, NJ: ABLEX.

Eisenhart, M., Borko, H., Underhill, R., Brown, C., Jones, D., & Agard, P. (1993). Conceptual knowledge falls through the cracks: Complexities of learning to teach mathematics for understanding. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 24 (1), 8-40.

Eisenhart, M., & Lawrence, N. (1994). Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the culture of romance. Genders, 19, 94-121.

Eisenhart, M. (1994). Women scientists and the norm of gender neutrality. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 1(3), 193-207.

Eisenhart, M. (1995). The fax, the jazz player, and the self-story teller: How do people learn culture? Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 26(1), 3-26.

Eisenhart, M. (1995). Promises and puzzles of culturally-sensitive teaching. Practicing Anthropology, 17(3), 22-25.

Eisenhart, M. (1996). Contemporary college women's career plans. In K. Borman and P. Dubeck (Eds.) Women and work: A handbook (pp. 232-235). New York: Garland Press.

Eisenhart, M. (1996). The production of biologists at school and work: Making scientists, conservationists, or flowery bone-heads? In B. Levinson, D. Foley & D. Holland (Eds.) The cultural production of the educated person: Critical ethnographies of schooling and local practice. (pp. 169-185). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Eisenhart, M., Finkel, E., & Marion, S. (1996). Creating the conditions for scientific literacy: A reconsideration. American Educational Research Journal, 33(2),261-295.

Eisenhart, M. (1997). Review of Julia Evert's Gender and career in science and engineering. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 10(2), 260-262.

Eisenhart, M. (1998). Review of Elaine Seymour and Nancy Hewitt's Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences. American Scientist, (July-August), 395-396.

Eisenhart, M. (1998). An equivocal standard for women in science and engineering. Anthropology Newsletter, 39 (4), 10-11.

Eisenhart, M. (1999). Reflections on educational intervention in light of postmodernism. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 30(4), 462-465.

Eisenhart, M. (2000). New directions and approaches to culture, learning, and education. In B. Levinson et al. (Eds.) Schooling the symbolic animal: Social and cultural dimensions of education. Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield Publishers.

Eisenhart, M. (2000). Review of George and Louise Spindler's Fifty years of anthropology and education, 1950-2000: A Spindler anthology. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. Published on line at www.aaanet.org/cae/aeq/br/index.htm on November 22, 2000.

Eisenhart, M. (2000). Boundaries and selves in the making of 'science.' Research in Science Education, 30 (1), 43-55.

Eisenhart, M. (2001). Moving women from school to work in science: Curriculum demands, adult identities, and life transitions. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 7, 199-213.

Lawrence, N., & Eisenhart, M. (2002). The language of science and the meaning of abortion. In W-M. Roth & J. Désautels (Eds.) Science education as/for sociopolitical action (pp. 185-206). New York: Peter Lang.


Educational Research Methodology

Eisenhart, M. (1988). The ethnographic research tradition and mathematics education research. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 19, 99-114.

Howe, K. & Eisenhart, M. (1990). Standards for qualitative (and quantitative) research: A prolegomenon. Educational Researcher, 19, 2-9.

Eisenhart, M. & Borko, H. (1991). In search of an interdisciplinary collaborative design for studying teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 7(2), 137-157.

Eisenhart, M. & Howe, K. (1992). Validity in educational research. In M. LeCompte, W. Millroy & J. Preissle (Eds.) The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 642-680). San Diego: Academic Press.

Eisenhart, M. (1995). Letter: A response to Cizek. Educational Researcher, 24(9), 32-33.

Eisenhart, M. (1995). Whither credibility in research on reading? A response to Anderson and West. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(3), 570-572.

Eisenhart, M. (1998). On the subject of interpretive reviews. Review of Educational Research, 68 (4), 389-397.

Eisenhart, M. (2001). Changing conceptions of culture and ethnographic methodology: Recent thematic shifts and their implications for research on teaching. In V. Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of research on teaching. 4th Edition (pp. 209-225). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Eisenhart, M. (2001). Educational ethnography past, present, and future: Ideas to think with. Educational Researcher, 30 (8), 16-27.

Howe, K., Eisenhart, M. & Betebenner, D. (2001). A crucible of school choice. Phi Delta Kappan, 83 (2), 137-146.

Committee on Scientific Principles for Educational Research (2002). Scientific inquiry in education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. (I was a member of the Committee that prepared this report.)

Howe, K., Eisenhart, M. & Betebenner, D. (2002). The price of public school choice. Educational Leadership, 59 (7), 20-24.

Eisenhart, M. (2002). The paradox of peer review: Admitting too much or allowing too little? Research in Science Education, 32, 241-255.

Other Applied Anthropology (not focused on education)

Eisenhart, M., & Ruff, T. (1983). The meaning of doing a good job: Findings from a study of rural and urban mental health centers in the South. Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 48-57.

Eisenhart, M., & Ruff, T. (1984). Doing mental health work in rural vs. urban places: Differences in the organization and meaning of work. In J. Gumpert (Ed.) Toward clarifying the context of rural practice. Proceedings of the fifth national institute on social work in rural areas (pp. 33-49). Lexington, MA: Ginn Publishing.

Articles in Press and Preparation

Eisenhart, M. (in press). The aims of education for women and others in science. Proceedings of the Research Tomorrow Conference. Blacksburg, VA: Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Human Resources.

Eisenhart, M. & DeHaan, R. (in preparation). Quality scientific research in the natural and social sciences. American Educational Research Journal.

Eisenhart, M. & Edwards, L. (under submission). Teen gender identity meets technological expertise in an urban after-school program.

Frykholm, J., Woodrow, K., & Eisenhart, M. (in preparation). Culture and curriculum reform in science and mathematics.


Recent Papers Presented (*invited)
*Eisenhart, M. (1999, March). Ideas to think with: Educational ethnography in the next generation. Keynote Address, University of Pennsylvania Ethnography in Education Forum, Philadelphia, PA.

*Eisenhart, M. (1999, November). Cultures of science and educational reform in the U.S. Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, IL.

*Eisenhart, M. (2000, April). What do we really mean when we talk about culture in schools? Invited presentation, American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Eisenhart, M. and Edwards, L. (2000, April). The burden of gaining respect and attention: African-American girls in an urban after-school program. Paper presented at the Urban Girls Conference, Buffalo, NY.

Edwards, L. and Eisenhart, M. (2000, April). Culturally-open moments: Using reformulation in an after-school program to teach science. Paper presented at the National Association of Research on Science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

Edwards, L. and Eisenhart, M. (2000, November). Using multimedia to investigate meanings of urban places. Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA.

*Eisenhart, M. (2000, November) Educational ethnography past, present, and future: Ideas to think with. Invited presentation, American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA.

*Eisenhart, M. (2001, March) Applied ethnography in education and other service professions. Invited presentation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.

Edwards, L.D., & Eisenhart, M.A. (2001, March). Using a virtual community of practice to attract African American girls to science. Paper presented at the National Association of Research on Science Teaching, St. Louis, MO.

Edwards, L.D., & Eisenhart, M.A. (2001, April). Learning with technology: Building on gendered interests to attract African American middle school girls to science. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

Eisenhart, M.A., & Edwards, L.D. (2001, April). Grabbing the interests of girls: African American 8th graders and authentic science. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

*Eisenhart, M. (2001, September) The meaning of culture in the practice of educational research in the U.S. and England. Invited presentation at the VIIIe Congrès International de l’Association pour la Recherche Interculturelle, Geneva, Switzerland.

*Eisenhart, M. (2001, October) When women pursue science. Invited presentation, Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado, Denver, CO.

*Eisenhart, M. & Edwards, L. (2001, November) Teen gender identity meets technological expertise in an urban after-school program. Invited presentation at the conference, “A New Girl Order? Young Women and the Future of Feminist Inquiry,” Monash University, London, England.

*Eisenhart, M. (2001, December) Anthropology and ethnography: Their uses and future in education. Invited Distinguished Lecture, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, CO.

Edwards, L. & Eisenhart, M. (2001, December) Grabbing the interest of girls: Middle school Latina gender identity and science. Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC.

Eisenhart, M. & Edwards, L. (2002, April) Engaging middle-school Latinas with science and technology. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

*Eisenhart, M. (2002, November). Science-based research in education: A place for anthropology? Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, LA.