Identifying with Science: A case study of two 13-year-old ‘high achieving working class’ British Asian girls

Wong, Billy

doi:10.1080/09500693.2010.551671

Cited by 36 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Archer, Hollingworth, and Mendick 2010;Ball, Maguire, and Macrae 2000;Francis 2000), minority ethnic pupils (e.g. Archer and Francis 2007;Wong 2012) and young women (e.g. Fuller 2009).…”

Section: Aspirations and Education Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Spheres of influence: what shapes young people’s aspirations at age 12/13 and what are the implications for education policy?

Archer

DeWitt

Wong

2013

Journal of Education Policy

Self Cite

177

174

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“…Archer, Hollingworth, and Mendick 2010;Ball, Maguire, and Macrae 2000;Francis 2000), minority ethnic pupils (e.g. Archer and Francis 2007;Wong 2012) and young women (e.g. Fuller 2009).…”

Section: Aspirations and Education Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Spheres of influence: what shapes young people’s aspirations at age 12/13 and what are the implications for education policy?

Archer

DeWitt

Wong

2013

Journal of Education Policy

Self Cite

177

174

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“…The construction of Physics (especially) as masculine (Gonsalves 2014) has been shown to impede many young women’s identification with Physics by challenging their construction of femininity (Archer et al 2016a). Evidence suggests that young people continue to regard science and mathematics as White, male, middle-class pursuits—with scientists and mathematicians tending to be imagined as White middle-class men (Archer et al 2015; Cheryan et al 2011, 2013; Mendick 2005; Wong 2012)—which in some areas of the sciences, and particularly at senior levels, may be the case.…”

Section: Inequality In the Physical Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Construction of Physics as a Quintessentially Masculine Subject: Young People’s Perceptions of Gender Issues in Access to Physics

et al. 2016

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The present article investigates explanations for gendered trends in Physics and Engineering access, reporting findings from a large-scale study funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and drawing primarily on data from interviews with 132 15–16 year-old adolescents and their parents. Survey results in our study and elsewhere show strong gender disparities in anticipated pursuit of Physics after completion of compulsory education. In order to explore the constructions of gender and Physics underlying these trends, we focus on qualitative interview data, applying Foucaultian analysis of discourse to investigate gendered narratives underpinning adolescents’ and their parents’ articulations. This analysis reveals three key discourses at work on the topic of women’s access to Physics: (a) equality of opportunity, (b) continued gender discrimination in and around Physics, and (c) Physics as quintessentially masculine. We additionally identify five distinct narratives supporting the discourse of physics as masculine. These various discourses and narratives are interrogated, and their implications explored. We conclude that it is only by disrupting prevalent constructions of the Physical sciences as a masculine and “hard” domain will we increase the presence of women in the sector. Working with young people to analyse and deconstruct the discursive assumptions made in relation to gender and Physics, as well as further work to increase accessibility and broaden representation in Physics, may be fruitful ways to challenge these longstanding associations between Physics and masculinity.

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“…(p. 12) Building on the current identity studies literature, we prefer to understand identity as a process of identifying (or not) versus as a reified achievement (Calabrese Jackson & Seiler, 2013; Johnson, Brown, Carlone, & Cuevas, 2011). Our focus on identity work reflects three theoretical assumptions about identity: (1) people are formed in practice, within communities of practice that have histories of participation; (2) people have agency in who they can become in a setting, but that agency is often limited by the norms and practices within the setting, and by larger social structures; (3) social identification occurs within multiple timescales (moment-to-moment; across weeks and months, and across generations) (Holland & Lave, 2001;Holland et al, 1998;Wenger, 1998;Wong, 2012;Wortham, 2006). Because our study occurred within a relatively short period of time, we focused on moments of authoring (performances of self in practice) within any given activity, patterned and shared across most or sometimes all members of the group, that indicated 'working through fear' or 'discomfort' or 'otherness'.…”

Section: Learning As Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Unthinkable’ Selves: Identity boundary work in a summer field ecology enrichment program for diverse youth

Carlone

Huffling

Tomasek

et al. 2015

International Journal of Science Education

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Abstract:The historical under-representation of diverse youth in environmental science education is inextricably connected to access and identity-related issues. Many diverse youth with limited previous experience to the outdoors as a source for learning and/or leisure may consider environmental science as 'unthinkable'. This is an ethnographic study of 16 diverse high school youths' participation, none of who initially fashioned themselves as 'outdoorsy' or 'animal people', in a four-week summer enrichment program focused on herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians). To function as 'good' participants, youth acted in ways that placed them well outside their comfort zones, which we labeled as identity boundary work. Results highlight the following cultural tools, norms, and practices that enabled youths' identity boundary work: (1) boundary objects (tools regularly used in the program that facilitated youths' engagement with animals and nature and helped them work through fear or discomfort); (2) time and space (responsive, to enable adaptation to new environments, organisms, and scientific field techniques); (3) social support and collective agency; and (4) scientific and anecdotal knowledge and skills. Findings suggest challenges to commonly held beliefs about equitable pedagogy, which assumes that scientific practices must be thinkable and/or relevant before youth engage meaningfully. Further, findings illustrate the ways that fear, in small doses and handled with empathy, may become a resource for youths' connections to animals, nature, and science. Finally, we propose that youths' situated identity boundary work in the program may have the potential to spark more sustained identity work, given additional experiences and support.

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Identifying with Science: A case study of two 13-year-old ‘high achieving working class’ British Asian girls

Cited by 36 publications

References 50 publications

Spheres of influence: what shapes young people’s aspirations at age 12/13 and what are the implications for education policy?

Spheres of influence: what shapes young people’s aspirations at age 12/13 and what are the implications for education policy?

The Construction of Physics as a Quintessentially Masculine Subject: Young People’s Perceptions of Gender Issues in Access to Physics

‘Unthinkable’ Selves: Identity boundary work in a summer field ecology enrichment program for diverse youth

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