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Register a new userBourdieu, networks, and movements: Using the concepts of habitus, field and capital to understand a network analysis of gender differences in undergraduate physics
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Current trends suggest that significant gender disparities exist within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education at university, with female students being underrepresented in physics, but more equally represented in life sciences (e.g., biology, medicine). To understand these trends, it is important to consider the context in which students make decisions about which university courses to enrol in. The current study seeks to investigate gender differences in STEM through a unique approach that combines network analysis of student enrolment data with an interpretive lens based on the sociological theory of Pierre Bourdieu. We generate a network of courses taken by around 9000 undergraduate physics students (from 2009 to 2014) to quantify Bourdieus concept of field. We explore the properties of this network to investigate gender differences in transverse movements (between different academic fields) and vertical movements (changes in students achievement rankings within a field). Our findings indicate that female students are more likely to make transverse movements into life science fields. We also find that university physics does a poor job in attracting high achieving students, and especially high achieving female students. Of the students who do choose to study physics, low achieving female students are less likely to continue than their male counterparts. The results and implications are discussed in the context of Bourdieus theory, and previous research. We argue that in order to remove constraints on female students study choices, the field of physics needs to provide a culture in which all students feel like they belong.
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Students face diverse pathways as they journey through undergraduate study. The analysis of student course records can untangle common patterns in course progression, and identify group trends in student outcomes. The current work examines the relationship between gender and undergraduate physics study, using course records from over nine thousand students who enrolled in physics at the University of Auckland, spanning a six year period. Physics students demographic and course records were analyzed to find out whether there were gender differences in subject selection, course performance, and confidence. Subsequent to taking a first year physics course, female students were more likely to take further courses in life science subjects, while male students were more likely to take physical science subjects. In first year courses, gender differences were not present among highly academically prepared students, for whom school type (single-sex or coeducational) was a better predictor of course outcome. However, of those students who were less academically prepared in their first year, male students tended to outperform female students. Female students were also more likely to take an introductory physics course before an advancing course, compared to male students, after controlling for academic preparation. Science capital, a concept related to Pierre Bourdieus notions of capital and habitus, was employed as an interpretive research framework. Habitus, the system of dispositions one uses to interpret the world, is largely influenced by the socio-cultural context in which an individual builds their identity. The following study explains how an interaction between science capital and an individuals habitus may lead to gender disparities in student outcomes in the field of physics.
The lack of diversity and the under-performance of underrepresented students in STEM courses have been the focus of researchers in the last decade. In particular, many hypotheses have been put forth for the reasons for the under-representation and under-performance of women in physics. Here, we present a framework for helping all students learn in science courses that takes into account four factors: 1) characteristics of instruction and learning tools, 2) implementation of instruction and learning tools, 3) student characteristics, and 4) students environments. While there has been much research on factor 1 (characteristics of instruction and learning tools), there has been less focus on factor 2 (students characteristics, and in particular, motivational factors). Here, we focus on the baseline motivational characteristics of introductory physics students obtained from survey data to inform factor 2 of the framework. A longitudinal analysis of students motivational characteristics in two-semester introductory physics courses was performed by administering pre- and post-surveys that evaluated students self-efficacy, grit, fascination with physics, value associated with physics, intelligence mindset, and physics epistemology. Female students reported lower self-efficacy, fascination and value, and had a more fixed view of intelligence in the context of physics compared to male students. Grit was the only factor on which female students reported averages that were equal to or higher than male students throughout introductory physics courses. These gender differences can at least partly be attributed to the societal stereotypes and biases about who belongs in physics and can excel in it. The findings inform the framework and have implications for the development and implementation of effective pedagogies and learning tools to help all students learn.
Commercial video games are increasingly using sophisticated physics simulations to create a more immersive experience for players. This also makes them a powerful tool for engaging students in learning physics. We provide some examples to show how commercial off-the-shelf games can be used to teach specific topics in introductory undergraduate physics. The examples are selected from a course taught predominantly through the medium of commercial video games.
In this work, we analyse all existing data related to the number of incomers and outcomers (who actually obtain the degree) of the following courses offered at the Federal University of Santa Catarina: physics teaching, bachelor in physics, master of sciences in physics and doctorate in physics, corresponding to the 1998-2017 period, according to their availability. The data point towards a great male predominance (larger than 76%) and a huge evasion of both sexes (in average, less than 20% of the undergraduate incomers obtain the degree), the evasion being lower in the postgraduate courses and always slightly higher for women. The average number of incomers and outcomers per year decreases as the students advance from graduate to postgraduate courses, although many students in the postgraduate courses come from other institutions. The proportion of women decreases as the carrier advances. The results indicate the need of complementary studies that can help the identification of the causes of such a high evasion in order to minimize them.
It is a well-studied notion that women are under-represented in the physical sciences, with a leaky pipeline metaphor describing how the number of women decreases at higher levels in academia[1,2]. It is unclear, however, where the major leaks exist and what factors are responsible for this[2]. Our focus here is on women in physics with an emphasis on practical laboratory work.
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