Female senior secondary physics students’ engagement in science: a qualitative study of constructive influences

Oliver et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2017) 4:4 DOI 10.1186/s40594-017-0060-9 International Journal of STEM Education RESEARCH Open Access Female senior secondary physics students’ engagement in science: a qualitative study of constructive influences Mary C. Oliver1, Amanda Woods-McConney2* , Dorit Maor2 and Andrew McConney2 Abstract Background: Prompted by fewer females compared to males enrolling in physics and advanced mathematics at both secondary and university levels, our research investigated the views and experiences of female students currently studying upper secondary school physics. We interviewed 18 female students about influences they considered important to their own science education, interest in science, and future science-related aspirations. Our purpose was to identify the experiences that these students most strongly associated with the generation and maintenance of their engagement in science, particularly represented in this research by their enrolment in upper secondary physics. Results: The research team used a systematic, iterative process to identify the main themes in the transcribed interview data. We identified the influence each girl reported as the strongest (ranked first). We also combined all influences that the participants had nominated, regardless of their ranking, to further examine all factors participants suggested as influential in their sustained engagement in school science (represented by their decision to study upper secondary physics). Systematic analysis of the interview data confirms that the influences on these females’ choices to study physics at upper secondary originate from a combination of their teachers, their school’s science culture, members of their family, the participants themselves and their peers. Conclusions: The interviews highlighted the idiographic complexities in understanding the wide range of important influences on these students studying physics at upper secondary school and their engagement in science. The unique contribution of this work is giving voice to the participants and reflecting on what these highachieving females have to say about the influential factors in their decisions to pursue science. Supportive teachers and the school science culture play essential roles, and other cultural and/or social factors such as family members and peers are identified as important. References to the culture and expectations of the school, family holidays, and conversations with siblings are support factors that seem to interact and overlap. At the same time, the importance of policy-amenable factors such as competent and caring science teachers, and science-supportive school cultures should be emphasised and encouraged. Keywords: Gender, STEM, Influences, Science enrolment, Engagement, Qualitative * Correspondence: 2 Murdoch University, South St., Murdoch 6150, Western Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Oliver et al. International Journal of STEM Education (2017) 4:4 Background Greater student engagement and attainment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) continues as an elusive outcome for education policy and practice in many countries across the Western world (Hill et al. 2010; Lyons 2006; Osborne et al. 2003; President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) 2012; Tytler et al. 2008). As noted by Anderhag et al. (2013), various reports have foreshadowed that many Western countries will experience a future shortage of workers adequately prepared for scientific, engineering and technical industries (OECD, 2007; Tytler et al. 2008). The Australian Industry Group (AIG) recently reported that “75% of the fastest growing occupations require STEM skills and knowledge…young people are not acquiring the STEM skills we need” (AIG, 2013, p. ii). Likewise, Australia’s Chief Scientist has consistently underscored the importance of STEM education to the future wellbeing of Australia’s society and economy, and has reported that there remains: …too little time on average spent teaching science in primary school; declining interest in the study of STEM disciplines in senior secondary school; limited growth, even decline in particular areas of the natural and physical sciences, in branches of engineering and information technology at tertiary level; STEM skill shortages in the workforce (Office of the Chief Scientist 2013, p. 10). Similar to other countries, across Australia it appears widely accepted that increasing the numbers of students pursuing STEM education has the potential to promote the development of knowledge-based, specialist skills important for national growth and wellbeing (MCEECDYA 2008). Despite this apparent consensus, recent decades have seen decreasing enrolment in post-compulsory secondary school science and mathematics courses (AIG, 2015; Kennedy et al. 2014; Lyons & Quinn 2010; Office of the Chief Scientist 2012; Mack & Wilson 2015; Wilson & Mack 2014). Furthermore, the proportion of Australian school students participating in Year 12 (final year of secondary school) advanced science and mathematics has been in decline since the mid-1990s (Kennedy et al. 2014). Over the past 20 years, Australian students older than 15 years do not typically participate in upper school science and mathematics education at a high level compared with other countries such as Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Finland (Wilson & Mack 2014). Declining enrolment trends in STEM are not, however, always viewed as problematic. Despite almost universal agreement that decreasing enrolments have potentially negative consequences, there are also occasional claims regarding the oversupply of qualified STEM graduates Page 2 of 15 with some experiencing difficulty finding full-time work (Norton 2013). What does seem clear, however, is that if all students are not appropriately supported and provided opportunities to pursue STEM subjects, degrees and careers (Woods-McConney et al. 2014; Schmidt et al. 2015), it is likely that the strength and diversity within STEM disciplines, as well as their associated social and economic outcomes, could be eroded. Specifically related to this study, emphasis on gender-inclusive opportunities in school science over the past three decades and evidence that there is little difference in the abilities of males and females in doing, studying or achieving in science (Woods-McConney et al. 2014: OECD, 2010; Quinn & Cooc 2015) are not yet reflected in the number of females (...truncated)