Identifying with science: A case study of two 13-year-old 'high achieving working class' British Asian girls

Billy Wong (1)

1 Department of Education and Professional Studies

This paper provides an in-depth, 'case study' style analysis of the experiences of two 13 year-old British Asian girls from a larger qualitative study investigating minority ethnic students' aspirations in science. Through the lens of identity as performativity (Butler, 1999) and Bourdieu's (1986) notions of habitus and capital, the ways in which two girls engage with the field of science is examined. Samantha is British-Indian and Fay is British-Bangladeshi and they are both 'top set' students in science, but only one aspired to study triple science, while the other desired to be 'famous'. The experiences of the two girls are explicated in this paper, teasing out their experiences and constructions of science. It is argued that cultural discourses of family, peers and teacher expectations can shape students' perceptions of science and education.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Domaines: Education

Billy Wong. Identifying with science: A case study of two 13-year-old 'high achieving working class' British Asian girls. International Journal of Science Education, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/09500693.2010.551671⟩. ⟨hal-00714551⟩