Learning that physics is ‘not for me’: Pedagogic work and the cultivation of habitus among advanced level physics students

Abstract

There is widespread agreement that participation in post-compulsory physics needs to be widened and increased, particularly among women and under-represented communities. This paper contributes to understanding of the processes that produce unequal participation, undertaking a Bourdieusian analysis of longitudinal interview data from 75 interviews conducted with fifteen students, tracked since age 10, who studied Advanced level physics in England. The paper discusses evidence of a physics habitus that was strongly aligned with notions of intelligence/ cleverness and masculinity and identifies how young women were particularly disadvantaged by a popular notion of the "effortlessly clever physicist", which encouraged even highly interested and high attaining young women not to continue further with the subject. We identified three main forms of pedagogic work performed by school physics (attainment-based practices of debarring and gatekeeping; curriculum practices of deferring 'real' physics and physics 'lies'; and interpersonal reinforcement of doxa), which helped cultivate student habitus over time and produce inequitable patterns of participationsuggesting that school physics contributes to reproducing inequitable (and low overall) patterns of participation. Implications are discussed for science education policy and practice to support more equitable participation.

Transforming school students' aspirations into destinations through extended interaction with cutting-edge research: Physics Research in School Environments

“…The theory of change behind the programme has presented how, based on recent educational research and recommendations, PRiSE might be able to support participating 14-18 year-old students' existing science identities and enhance, or at least maintain, physics aspirations to help transform these into degree subject destinations -a key issue for students at this stage of their educational journey (cf. Davenport et al, 2020;L. Archer et al, 2020a).…”

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