Inequality in Experiences of Physics Education: Secondary School Girls' and Boys' Perceptions of their Physics Education and Intentions to Continue with Physics After the Age of 16

Abstract

This paper explores the factors that are associated in England with 15 year-old students' intentions to study physics post-16, when it is no longer compulsory. Survey responses were collated from 5034 year 10 students as learners of physics during the academic year 2008-09 from 137 England secondary schools. Our analysis uses individual items from the survey rather than constructs (aggregates of items) to explore what it is about physics teachers, physics lessons and physics itself that is most correlated with intended participation in physics post-16. Our findings indicate that extrinsic material gain motivation in physics was the most important factor associated with intended participation. In addition, an item-level analysis helped to uncover issues around gender inequality in physics educational experiences which were masked by the use of construct-based analyses. Girls' perceptions of their physics teachers were similar to those of boys on many fronts. However, despite the encouragement individual students receive from their teachers being a key factor associated with aspirations to continue with physics, girls were statistically significantly less likely to receive such encouragement. We also found that girls had less positive experiences of their physics lessons and physics education than did boys.

The Millennium Development Goals Agenda: Constraints of Culture, Economy, and Empowerment in Influencing the Social Mobility of Pakistani Girls on Mathematics and Science Related Higher Education Courses in Universities in Pakistan

“…The prevalent stereotypes about males being better in STEM subjects are in contrast to reality. Our work within the UK context indicated that even if girls had high aspirations to continue with mathematics or the sciences, such girls were statistically significantly less likely to be encouraged by teachers and parents to continue with these subjects and were less likely to receive support at home in learning these subjects compared to boys with high aspirations (Mujtaba & Reiss, 2013a, 2013b. We also found, in line with many other studies, that girls had lower mathematics and physics self-concepts than did boys.…”

“…Our work with UK students demonstrated that extrinsic material gain motivation (which measures students' intentions to continue with STEM subjects for the purposes of higher education entry, career prospects, and high salaries) was the most important factor in explaining why students continue with STEM at higher levels (Mujtaba & Reiss, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c. However, within our sample of Pakistani females, only 5 of the 31 indicated that they had chosen to continue in the STEM field post-16 for career reasons.…”

“…Our work within the UK context indicated that girls, regardless of aspirations and after controlling for family socioeconomic status, were less likely to be encouraged by their families (and their teachers) to continue with mathematics and physics in postcompulsory education and were less likely to receive support at home in learning these subjects (Mujtaba & Reiss, 2013a, 2013b. In patriarchal societies like Pakistan the socialization process is markedly more discriminatory than is found in Western cultures, because females are conditioned from early childhood to accept different entitlements than males, such as accepting fewer resources being spent on their education, spending most of their time at home (in poor families this means missing or leaving school), and supporting the economic growth of the family by accepting the need to support activities at home while their brothers are educated (Social Policy Development Centre, 2003).…”

“…During the interview process, careful notes were made by Mujtaba; because this study was based on the authors' UK study (Mujtaba & Reiss 2013a, 2013b, 2013c, likely overarching themes had been identified prior to the interview, though these were refined as a result of the interviews. After all of the interviews had been conducted, Mujtaba listened to each interview twice to check that themes' quotations for accuracy and that they were transcribed in full.…”

Valuing difference in students’ culture and experience in school science lessons

“…This is linked to understanding what it means to 'do' science and be a scientist. This is supported by Mujtaba and Reiss (2013) in the UPMAP project who found that students who chose to go into science-related post-compulsory courses tended to have had one or more significant adults who had generated an interest or encouraged them in some way. In linked research, from the EISER project (Banner and Ryder 2014), when some students were asked about to which careers having science qualifications would lead, the answers were to be a scientist, a doctor or a science teacher; this is also documented by Archer et al (2010) and suggests that students can have very limited views about the use of science in their professional lives.…”