Leveraging biology interest to broaden participation in the geosciences
Abstract
It has been well documented that female participation in the geoscience workforce is low. By contrast, the biology workforce has largely reached gender parity. These trends are rooted in patterns of interest among youth. Specifically, girls tend to like biology and value social and societal connections to science (Brotman & Moore 2008). Our NSF-funded project, "BRIGHT Girls," offers two-week summer academies to high school-aged girls, in which the connections between the geosciences and biology are made explicit. We are conducting qualitative research to trace the girls' identity work during this intervention. Using team-based video interaction analysis, we are finding that the fabric of the academy allows girls to "try on" new possible selves in science. Our results imply that real-world, interdisciplinary programs that include opportunities for agency and authentic science practice may be a fruitful approach for broadening participation in the geosciences.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMED53F0209P
- Keywords:
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- 0855 Diversity;
- EDUCATION;
- 1699 General or miscellaneous;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 6630 Workforce;
- PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6699 General or miscellaneous;
- PUBLIC ISSUES