Abstract: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 underl… Show more
“…It's a totally different way of learning, really. They also express a strong focus on assessment, tests, and exams in line with the implied student of the traditional physics classroom (Carlone, ; Yerdelen‐Damar & Elby, ). A quote from one student illustrates how the cleverness and importance of achievement is part of what identifies them as physics students (Francis et al., ; Taconis & Kessels, ). But we, who take physics, we want to get good grades. They appear to be socialized into a culture oriented toward test outcomes and final qualifications.…”
Calls for renewal of physics education include more varied learning activities and increased focus on qualitative understanding and history and philosophy of science (HPS) aspects. We have studied an innovative approach implementing such features in quantum physics in traditional upper secondary physics classrooms in Norway. Data consists of 11 focus groups with 58 participants from 11 physics classes, collected in 2013-2016 and analyzed thematically. Using the the implied student (Ulriksen, 2009) as an analytical lens, we study the experiences of actual physics students against the student "implied" by the innovative approach. The findings suggest that students struggled where the new approach holds implicit expectations that differ greatly from how students are expected to "do physics" in traditional classrooms. For example, students found it difficult to monitor their performance in the absence of calculations and factual answers.However, students easily adopted visualizations as a new tool for reaching the familiar goal of content knowledge. HPS aspects motivated students, but were not necessarily seen as learning goals in their own right. There is a need for better alignment between learning activities, learning goals and assessment in innovations, and for making implicit expectations explicit so that students know what "doing physics" successfully entails.
“…It's a totally different way of learning, really. They also express a strong focus on assessment, tests, and exams in line with the implied student of the traditional physics classroom (Carlone, ; Yerdelen‐Damar & Elby, ). A quote from one student illustrates how the cleverness and importance of achievement is part of what identifies them as physics students (Francis et al., ; Taconis & Kessels, ). But we, who take physics, we want to get good grades. They appear to be socialized into a culture oriented toward test outcomes and final qualifications.…”
Calls for renewal of physics education include more varied learning activities and increased focus on qualitative understanding and history and philosophy of science (HPS) aspects. We have studied an innovative approach implementing such features in quantum physics in traditional upper secondary physics classrooms in Norway. Data consists of 11 focus groups with 58 participants from 11 physics classes, collected in 2013-2016 and analyzed thematically. Using the the implied student (Ulriksen, 2009) as an analytical lens, we study the experiences of actual physics students against the student "implied" by the innovative approach. The findings suggest that students struggled where the new approach holds implicit expectations that differ greatly from how students are expected to "do physics" in traditional classrooms. For example, students found it difficult to monitor their performance in the absence of calculations and factual answers.However, students easily adopted visualizations as a new tool for reaching the familiar goal of content knowledge. HPS aspects motivated students, but were not necessarily seen as learning goals in their own right. There is a need for better alignment between learning activities, learning goals and assessment in innovations, and for making implicit expectations explicit so that students know what "doing physics" successfully entails.
“…Of course, here again the situation is complex. Francis et al (2016) show that issues of (lack of) representation of women in physics, and the continuing incidents of discrimination in the physics workplace which girls use as allegorical tales to illustrate the hostility of the profession to women, also have a strong impact on girls' disassociation from physics. It is important, then, not to simply responsibilise (see Rose 1999) girls for their 'failure' .…”
Section: Femininity and Engagement With Stemmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…The association of science careers with masculinity has also been shown to be off-putting for some girls (Archer et al 2012a(Archer et al , 2012b, with children perceiving science as being 'for boys' (Calabrese Barton and Tan 2009;Caleon and Subramaniam 2008;Carlone 2003;Farenga and Joyce 1999;Francis 2000b;Fennema and Peterson 1985). Especially, the construction of physics as 'quintessentially masculine' (Francis et al 2016) has been shown to impede engagement for many girls, due to the lack of 'fit' of this symbolically masculinised subject with their identification with femininity (see Gonsalves 2014;Archer et al forthcoming).…”
Section: Femininity and Engagement With Stemmentioning
Hyper-femininity and the construction of the 'girly girl' label have been documented widely, but there has been less attention to their content (or any distinctions between these constructs). Indeed, it can be argued that the content of femininity remains a controversial and somewhat under-researched topic in feminist scholarship. This is also the case in relation to science, which has been widely characterised as a masculine terrain, but there has been less attention to why femininity is excluded from/by science. This article attempts to unpick some of these issues, with a particular focus on the construct of the 'girly girl' , in relation to access to science. Drawing on qualitative data from the Economic and Social Research Council-funded ASPIRES 2 project, we analyse the discourses used by young people and parents in discussion of 'girly girls' and physics. We show the misogynist and excluding discourses projected onto the 'girly girl' , and indeed that are used to interpolate femininity more broadly. We found that in discussions of science and (hyper-)femininity, even potentially positive feminine attributes were denigrated. Hyper-femininity was produced as 'more than lack': vacuous, but also a risible presence. In reflecting on our findings we consider whether femininity may be more derided in some discursive contexts (e.g. science discourse) than others, and whether femininity can or should be conceived as more than lack.
“…Second, variation in subject choice by social class and gender has been explained by students' taken-for-granted sense of what is 'normal' for people like them (e.g. Francis et al, 2017). This portrayal of social and gender identity reproduction generates two views of critical information.…”
Section: Alternative Perspectives On Subject Choice-implications For mentioning
We estimated the effects of an intervention which provided information about graduate wages to 5593 students in England, using a blinded cluster randomised controlled trial in 50 schools (registration: AEARCTR‐0000468). Our primary outcome was students’ choice of A‐level subjects at age 16. We also recorded the students’ expectations of future wages and the A‐level subjects they intended to take before and after the intervention, and linked their data into national administrative school examination records. We found that an hour‐long lesson on information about graduate wages affected students’ beliefs about and choice of subject. They were more likely to take mathematics and less likely to take biology and computing. We found strong evidence that mediating factors such as their beliefs about average graduate salaries and their own likely salary in each subject were affected by the intervention. This suggests that providing accessible and credible information on labour market consequences of school choices may influence students’ decisions. In the light of concerns about the quality of careers guidance for school students and expectations that educational choices should be well‐informed, the study has clear implications for policy and practice.
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