Girls’ Engagement With Science: A Multi-Method Qualitative Approach

Abstract

In this case study, I give a brief account of my doctoral research, with a focus on fieldwork that I carried out during 2014-2015. My research explores how gender, social class, and ethnicity shape girls’ engagement with science and how their engagement with science may shift across school, science museum, and family settings. The participants of my study were girls aged 11-13 years (n = 15), their parents (n = 10), and their science teachers (n = 4), who were recruited from two secondary schools in the United Kingdom, from London and Manchester. I used qualitative research methodology with multiple methods of data collection: focus groups with students; interviews with students, parents, and teachers; observations of science lessons; and school and family visits to the science museum. My study hopes to contribute to a better understanding of complex and multifaceted ways in which girls from diverse backgrounds engage with science to hopefully inform future practices of socially just science education.

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