Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T21:06:40.227Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Young people, gender, and science

Does an early interest lead to a job in SET? A longitudinal view from the BHPS youth data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

By
Anna Bagnoli ,
Dieter Demey  and
Jacqueline Scott
Edited by
Ingrid Schoon  and
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Anna Bagnoli
Affiliation:
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Dieter Demey
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Jacqueline Scott
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Ingrid Schoon
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Get access

Summary

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of teenage career aspirations in predicting later outcomes. In particular we focus on young adolescent males and females who show an interest in SET (science, engineering, and technology) careers. We present the results of secondary analysis that we carried out on the British Youth Survey, which is part of the British Household Panel Survey. Looking at data from a recent cohort, we investigate trends in aspirations over time. Our analysis focuses on four research questions: first, identifying young people’s future aspirations, more specifically their aspirations to get into SET, and the ways in which these relate to family background and gender; second, looking at whether an early interest in science leads to having a SET job as an adult; third, investigating the extent to which young people who aspire to a career in SET may be seeking to reproduce family patterns by following in the footsteps of their parents; and fourth, looking at how those young people who express an interest in SET speak of their career ambitions in relation to family aspirations. Before presenting the results of the analysis we clarify the different working definitions for SET occupations that we adopt in this study. We first present the quantitative cross-sectional and longitudinal results that link youth and adult data in the sample. Second, we present results of the qualitative analysis of future aspirations. Finally, we draw some policy implications concerning possible ways of improving the image of science to reduce the gender gap and encourage more young people to aspire to SET careers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment
A Life Course Perspective
 , pp. 321 - 345
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bennett, J., & Hogarth, S. (2009). Would you want to talk to a scientist at a party?International Journal of Science Education, 31(14), 1975–1998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, R. (2003). Young people’s higher education choices: The role of family and friends. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(3), 283–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buck, G. A., Plano Clark, V., Lesley-Pelecky, D., Lu, Y., & Cerda-Lizarraga, P. (2007). Examining the cognitive processes used by adolescent girls and women scientists in identifying science role models: A feminist approach. Science Education, 92(4), 688–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charles, M. (2011). A world of difference: International trends in women’s economic status. Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 355–371. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chimba, M., & Kitzinger, J. (2010). Bimbo or boffin? Women in science: An analysis of media representations and how female scientists negotiate cultural contradictions. Public Understanding of Science, 19(5), 609–624.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DES (Department for Education and Skills). (2007). Gender and education: The evidence on pupils in England. Retrieved from .
Devine, F. (2010). Class reproduction, occupational inheritance and occupational choice. In Scott, J., Crompton, R., & Lyonette, C. (Eds.), Gender inequalities in the 21st century (pp. 40–58). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Devine, F., & Savage, M. (2005). The cultural turn, sociology and class analysis. In Devine, F., Savage, M., Scott, J., & Crompton, R. (Eds.), Rethinking class: Cultures, identities and lifestyles (pp. 1–23). Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J., & Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviours. In Spence, T. J. (Ed.), Achievement and academic motives (pp. 75–146). New York: Freeman.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (2009). The incomplete revolution. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Faulkner, W. (2007). “Nuts and bolts and people”: Gender-troubled engineering identities. Social Studies of Science, 37(3), 331–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flicker, E. (2003). Between brains and breasts: Women scientists in fiction film – On the marginalisation and sexualisation of scientific competence. Public Understanding of Science, 12(3), 307–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup Organization. (2008). Flash barometer: Young people and science. Retrieved from .
Good, J. J., Woodzicka, J. A., & Wingfield, L. C. (2010). The effects of gender stereotypic and counter-stereotypic textbook images on science performance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 150(2), 132–147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenfield, S. (2002). SET FAIR: A report on women in science, engineering and technology from Baroness Greenfield CBE to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Retrieved from .
Jenkins, E. W., & Pell, R. G. (2006). The Relevance of Science Education Project (ROSE) in England: A summary of findings. Retrieved from .
Jensen, K. S. H. (2005). Women working in science, engineering and technology. Higher education and industry – A literature review. Retrieved from .
Kiernan, K. (1996). Lone motherhood, employment and outcomes for children. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 10(3), 233–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitzinger, J., Haran, J., Chimba, M., & Boyce, T. (2008). Role models in the media: An exploration of the views and experiences of women in science, engineering and technology. Retrieved from .
Lampard, R. (2007). Is social mobility an echo of educational mobility? Parents’ educations and occupations and their children’s occupational attainment. Sociological Research Online, 12(5). Retrieved from .CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mead, M., & Metraux, R. (1957). Image of the scientist among high school students: A pilot study. Science, 126, 384–390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, P., & Whitelegg, E. (2006). Girls in the physics classroom: A review of the research on the participation of girls in physics. London: Institute of Physics. Retrieved from .Google Scholar
OECD. (2006). PISA 2006: Science competencies for tomorrow’s world: Vol. 1. Analysis. Retrieved from .
OECD (2008). OECD Science, technology and industry outlook. Retrieved from .
Ormerod, M. with Duckworth, D. (1975). Pupils’ attitudes to science: A review of research. Windsor: N.F.E.R. Publishing Company Ltd.Google Scholar
Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: A review of the literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049–1079.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, E. F., & Rosser, S. V. (1992). Factors in life science textbooks that may deter girls’ interest in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 669–686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PRAGES (Practising Gender Equality in Science). (2009). Guidelines for gender equality programmes in science. Retrieved from .
Purcell, K., & Elias, P. (2008). Achieving equality in the knowledge economy. In Scott, J., Dex, S., & Joshi, H. (Eds.), Women and employment: Changing lives and new challenges (pp. 19–49). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Roberts, G. (2002). SET for success: The supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills – The report of Sir Gareth Roberts’ Review. Retrieved from +/.
Royal Society. (2008). Science and mathematics education, 14–19: A “state of the nation” report on the participation and attainment of 14–19 year olds in science and mathematics in the UK, 1996–2007. Retrieved from .
Sadler, T. D. & Zeidler, D. L. (2009). Scientific literacy, PISA and socioscientific discourse: Assessment for progressive aims of science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(8), 909–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoon, I., Martin, P., & Ross, A. (2007). Career transitions in times of social change: His and her story. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70(1), 78–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoon, I., & Parsons, S. (2002). Teenage aspirations for future careers and occupational outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60(2), 262–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoon, I., & Polek, E. (2011). Teenage career aspirations and adult career attainment: The role of gender, social background and general cognitive ability. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 36(3), 210–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoon, I., Ross, A., & Martin, P. (2007). Science related careers: Aspirations and outcomes in two British cohort studies. In Scott, J., & Nolan, J. (Eds.), New technologies and gendered divisions of labour: Problems and prospects for equality in the public and private spheres. Equal Opportunities International [special issue], 26 (2), 129–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, J. (2004). Family, gender and educational attainment in Britain: A longitudinal study. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 35(4), 565–589.Google Scholar
Scott, J., & Chaudhary, C. (2003). Beating the odds: Youth and family disadvantage. Leicester: The National Youth Agency.Google Scholar
Shepardson, D. P., & Pizzini, E. L. (1992). Gender bias in female elementary teachers’ perceptions of the scientific ability of students. Science Education, 76(2), 147–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinke, J. (2004). Science in cyberspace: Science and engineering World Wide Web sites for girls. Public Understanding of Science, 13(1), 7–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinke, J. (2005). Cultural representations of gender and science. Science Communication, 27(1), 27–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, A. (2001). Cultural capital and educational attainment. Sociology, 35(4), 893–912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, A. (2007). Cultural capital, cultural knowledge and ability. Sociological Research Online, 12(6). Retrieved from .Google Scholar
Taylor, M. F. (Ed.), with Brice, J., Buck, N., & Prentice-Lane, E. (2010). British Household Panel Survey user manual: Vol. A. Introduction, technical report and appendices. Colchester: University of Essex.Google Scholar
Wajcman, J. (2004). Technofeminism. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×