Parental attitudes and beliefs play critical role in girls’ learning choices
Jones & Hamer (2022)
2022
Recent research by UK-based researchers Karen Jones and Jessica Hamer have explored the impact of parent and carer’s attitudes and beliefs on children’s participation in physics classes in high school. Despite the recognition that girls are good at physics, female students are not studying physics or going into physics-related careers. GCSE outcomes from 2016 show girls achieved at equal levels as boys in physics, yet only 1.9 percent of girls study physics at A-level in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. By comparison, 6.5 percent of boys go on to study physics at this level. This reinforces concerns that girls don’t believe they can be engineers or scientists. If more girls pursued the study of physics this would address social inequality in the UK, while also addressing the current skills gap. Such gender imbalances are also present in other locations such as Australia (Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, 2019).
Many existing research studies show there is a significant gender gap in physics, however, Jones & Hamer’s 2022 article considers the attitudes and beliefs of parents of children in year nine. This included a survey which was run as part of initiatives designed to investigate and improve gender balances. While 60 secondary girls’ schools and state schools were specifically invited to participate in the study, the authors caution that the sample is not representative of all schools. This is due to the sample bias ‘towards higher achievement and higher socio-economic backgrounds’ (Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 211).
It has been well-established that many factors can impact girls’ participation in physics classes and careers. A 2006 study found that ‘participation was found to be related to career aspiration, interest and enjoyment in physics, views of the relevance of physics, the impact of teachers, being in a single-sex school, achievement and self-concept, perceptions of the difficulty of physics and assessment processes’ (Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 202; Murphy & Whitelegg, 2006). Other key influences include teachers’ perceptions and encouragement, socio-economic status and ethnic backgrounds (although this can lead to the development of troubling racial and economic stereotypes applied at a general level), varied interest in physics with age, and mis-alignment of self-identity with perceptions of roles in physics. Another key influencing factor the authors particularly note are the links between parent and child ‘engagement, aspirations and attainment in science’ (Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 204). This can also include the gendered attitudes of parents; however, more research is required in this area.
While Jones and Hamer (2022, p. 216) did not determine a causal relationship between ‘parental attitudes and student outcomes’, the authors did identify that parent beliefs that their child ‘will go on to study physics at A-level’ — or parents’ ability to view their child working in a physics-related field — has a significant potential to impact girls’ (Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 216). Parents’ beliefs and attitudes are vitally important influences on girls. This provides an important opportunity for additional research and the potential for targeted interventions to increase the likelihood of female students choosing to study physics.
Jones and Hamer (2022, p. 218) recognise the project bias and the potential impact of this on their findings. The authors note that the project sample and data is biased ‘towards schools with higher exam results and lower deprivation’ (Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 218). While efforts were made to manage results accordingly, the influence of these parameters cannot be completely excluded. Matched samples did indicate a high potential accuracy of these results, which has nonetheless led the authors to suggest that the findings from this research can potentially be applied ‘to other settings’ (Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 219).
These findings are developed from a case study based on schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. While the data used as the basis for this case study specifically excluded independent schools, single sex boy’s schools and special schools in these locations, this article nonetheless provides a welcome reinforcement for recent research in Australia indicating that girls’ schools can provide environments where a greater proportion of girls do indeed pursue the study of physics and other STEM subjects (Forgasz & Leder, 2017; Jones & Hamer, 2022, p. 219; Maasoumi et al., 2019). It also provides a welcome opportunity for future research to consider if these same themes surrounding parent attitudes and beliefs are present in Australian girls’ schools. Until such research is realised, this provides points of consideration for educators in girls’ schools to consider the benefits of these education environments in supporting girls and young women pursue their full potential across a breadth of academic disciplines.
References
Department of Industry,
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