Polygenic scores as bio-social policy instruments: Educational genomics as a source of intervention and governance

Abstract

The use of genetic data has proliferated in social and behavioural genomics research, leading to proposals for genetically-informed social policy. In particular, in the domain of ‘educational genomics’, researchers using ‘polygenic scores’—summary statistics used to calculate social outcomes from genetic data—have generated scientific knowledge claims about the potential to predict educational outcomes from biological samples. These polygenic scores have become the basis for proposed experimental interventions in education policy and practice. In this article analyzing a large corpus of scientific texts, we develop an original conceptualization of five techniques associated with the use of polygenic scores in education. We identify the underlying scientific base for claims of the policy-relevance of educational genomics, and develop a conceptual vocabulary explaining the implications and significance of polygenic scores in education. We conceive of polygenic scores as bio-social policy instruments that fuse biological knowledge to social policy objectives. Educational genomics represents an experiment in genomic social policy, amplifying policy commitments to rating, sorting, evaluating, stratifying, and valuing students in education through promissory claims of biological authority. Polygenic scores have thus become the basis for educational genomics to exert policy influence as a significant and controversial source of educational intervention and governance.