Home, school and the museum

Shifting gender performances and engagement with science

Bibliographic Data

ID11166554
AuthorsSpela Godec (0000-0002-9729-8549, Department of Education, Practice and Society, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume41
Issue2
Pages147-159
Publication date2020-02-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0142-5692 • E-ISSN: 1465-3346
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01425692.2019.1700778
OpenAlexW2996312817
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited51

Research has highlighted that engagement with science is highly gendered and that the masculinised culture of science makes it difficult for many girls/women to engage. Meanwhile, a growing body of research has explored the potential of out-of-school spaces to provide more equitable engagement opportunities. In this paper, I examine engagement with science among working-class, self-identified ‘girly’ girls aged 11-13. I discuss how gender performances and engagement with science shifted across science lessons, school trips and family trips to science museums. The findings suggest that engagement with science is complex, contradictory and varies across spaces – girls’ performances of hyper-femininity supported engagement with science in some spaces, but made it difficult in others. Different spaces also afforded the girls different opportunities for performing gender, which in some instances opened up new ways for engaging with science. I conclude by discussing the implications for more equitable science education

Media studies · Pedagogy · Social science · Sociology · Sociology of Education · Student engagement · Career Development and Diversity · Gender Studies · Outdoor and Experiential Education · Science Education and Perceptions

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