ERIC Number: EJ1395711
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0693
EISSN: EISSN-1464-5289
Dedicating, Faking, and Surviving: Disclosing Tensions in How Three Women University Students Negotiate Collectively Celebrated Norms across European Contexts
International Journal of Science Education, v45 n12 p1032-1052 2023
Higher education biology (HEB), a discipline where women undergraduates are numerically overrepresented in most Western universities, has been given little attention in exploring norms of scientific practice from a student perspective. This study brings into focus how biology students negotiate identities in relation to figured worlds of HEB. Through thematic analysis of 27 timeline interviews from a Swedish, German, and British university as a collective case, we identified three hegemonic imaginaries across narratives: "showing dedication through sacrifice," "faking it to make it," and "surviving as the fittest." Using a theoretical framework of feminist science critique, science identity, and figured worlds, we then offer a multiple case approach to how three women students negotiate the collective imaginaries identified, while simultaneously disavowing and challenging them. This conflict suggests they consider themselves successful "despite" the pressure to engage in 'typical' scientific practices they simultaneously contest. Consequently, this study demonstrates that celebrated imaginaries do not remain unproblematised by successful students, but create tensions in their identity work. This provokes discussions on how science imaginaries shape women's participation in HEB and beyond. Visualising these tensions makes it furthermore possible to challenge and change hegemonic academic norms in HEB, moving towards more socially just and inclusive spaces.
Descriptors: College Students, Females, Foreign Countries, Biology, Science Instruction, Higher Education, Self Concept, Cultural Influences, Student Participation, Behavior Standards, Group Membership, Student Behavior
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Europe; Sweden; Germany; United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A