Desiring a career in STEM‐related fields: How middle school girls articulate and negotiate identities‐in‐practice in science
Citations
Psychosocial factors impacting STEM career selection
New Programming Paradigms
Assessing Scientific Literacy as Participation in Civic Practices: Affordances and constraints for developing a practice for authentic classroom assessment of argumentation, source critique and decision-making
“Some explanation here”: a case study of learning opportunities and tensions in an informal science learning environment
References
Telling Identities: In Search of an Analytic Tool for Investigating Learning as a Culturally Shaped Activity
Women and science careers: leaky pipeline or gender filter?
The Growing Female Advantage in College Completion: The Role of Family Background and Academic Achievement:
Possible selves and academic outcomes: How and when possible selves impel action.
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Frequently Asked Questions (10)
Q2. What did Kay do to keep in touch with the instructors?
Kay turned to email (using a computer at her school) and text messages (on friends’ phones) to keep in touch with Green club instructors.
Q3. What is the main argument that girls choose not to go into science?
It has been argued that girls choose not to go into science because it is too masculine, clinical, impersonal or individualistic – characteristics that are in sharp contrast to the soft, feminine qualities that girls purportedly value and embody.
Q4. What were the primary sources of data used for the analysis of narrated identities in practices?
For the analysis of narrated identities in practices, girls’ stories in the interview transcripts and yearly digital stories were used as the primary data sources.
Q5. What did she do to get the school to switch to fluorescent bulbs?
She was instrumental, for example, in persuadingtwo peers to conduct a light bulb audit of her school to determine if switching from incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs would save the school enough money to keep their after school programs running.
Q6. What is the role of institutional narratives in reifying girls’ designated identities in practice?
The role of institutional narratives on girls’ designated identities as future STEM-related professionalsDESIRING A CAREER IN STEM-RELATED FIELDS26Just as girls narrated identities-in-practice of a “smart girl”, “community science expert”and “future doctor” enable them “to cope with new situations in terms of past experiences and helps [them] plan for the future” (Sfard & Prusak, 2005, p. 16), institutional narratives in the forms of grades, certificates or a teacher’s labeling of a student wield much power in reifying or supplanting girls’ embodied identities-in-practice.
Q7. What did Eunice do to become more comfortable with the new practices of the club?
While Mrs. D tried to create a more student-friendly and informal atmosphere during the club by waiving regular classroom norms such as hand raising and waiting to be called on, Eunice persisted in these school practices rather than quickly adapting to the new practices of the club, which again made Eunice’s ways of participating feel odd to the other members.
Q8. What was Kay’s motivation for being chosen to hold the plaque?
She was especially proud to be the one of two youth chosen to hold the plaque that the mayor’s office awarded the Green Club for their contribution towards greening River City.
Q9. What would have been better for Meg if she had been more observant of her?
For a girl who desires to be a veterinarian, Meg would have been better served if she learned how to engage in authentic science practices in middle school instead of merely questing after the right answers.
Q10. What was the positive feedback loop in Janis’s school science?
This positive feedback loop was also evident in her narrated identities-in-practice, when she started seriously considering a future career as a Green energy engineer.