Out of school experiences, interests, and views of scientists of 9th grade living environment and foundation of science students.

Arkadiy Abrakhimov

May 13, 2009

IntroductionResearch conducted in 1990s have shown significant difference between gender and science in the following categories:

Science interestsOut of school experiences related to sciencePerception of scientists

Males have interests and of school experiences that deal physical sciences while females have out of school experiences and interests that deal with biological sciences.

Interested about if these trends are still present today and if these trends have changed in the past decade.

Research Questions

Are there gender differences in students’ interests in science?

Are there gender differences in students’ out of school experiences associated with science?

Are there gender differences in students’ perception of scientists?

Research MethodsUn-Random selection of students in classes of:

Two 9th grade living environmentTwo 9th grade foundation of science

Total of 97 students involved:48 males49 females

A survey was given to the studentsEach student was given full class period to complete the surveyThe survey was Likert based and consisted of three parts

SurveyPart I - Interests

Students were asked: what I want to learn about

20 interests were given with Likert scare of 1-4 (1 = not interested, 4 = very interested)

Part II – Out of School ExperiencesStudents were asked: How often have you done this outside school

25 experiences were given with Likert scale of 1-4 (1 = never, 4 = often)

Part III – Perception of ScientistsStudents were asked: How do you picture a scientist to be

Two choices were given on this part. Either draw a scientist or complete a cluster web

Results

Students’ Interests in Science

Students’ out of school experiences

Students’ perception of scientists

Results

Students’ Interests in Science

Students’ out of school experiences

Students’ perception of scientists

Results – Perception of Scientists

Drawing a Scientist79% of students drew their scientists as males More females gave their scientists stereotypical characteristics (weird smile, wild eyes, funny hair) than males

Cluster Web of ScientistsBoth sexes considered scientists to be smart, experimental, and very carefulMore females considered scientist to be nerds, anti-social, and playing with chemicals.

ConclusionThe science interests results show that males are interested in physical sciences while females are interested in biological sciences.

However, the lack of significance in some physical science interests and out of school experiences might indicate that gender differences in science is shrinking.

The out of school experiences results show that out of school experiences are greatly influenced by gender roles.

Girls are taught to be social, caring, genuine individuals and therefore the biological sciences offer these characteristics. Hence they pursue a health/biological related career.

The perception of scientists results show that scientists are seen as males and deal with physical aspect of science which is not favored by females.

Limitations + ImplicationsSample Size and Un-random selectionLocation of School

Some of the out of school experiences may not pertain to students because the school was located in an urban area. Ex: using a saw, chopping wood, making fire from wood.

TeachersMay greatly impact students’ feelings about science We need more female physics, chemistry, and geology teachers who will inspire female students to pursue a physical science related career

Media Males and females at an early age are exposed to stereotypical representation of scientists via TV shows, computers, and magazines