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Title: | Mathematical stories: Why do more boys than girls choose to study mathematics at AS-level in England? |
Authors: | Mendick, H |
Keywords: | Mathematics;Education;Gender;Social class;Choice;Identity;Masculinity;A-level |
Issue Date: | 2005 |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Citation: | British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26(2): 225 - 241, Apr 2005 |
Abstract: | In this paper I address the question: How is it that people come to choose mathematics and in what ways is this process gendered? I draw on the findings of a qualitative research study involving interviews with 43 young people all studying mathematics in post-compulsory education in England. Working within a post-structuralist framework, I argue that gender is a project and one that is achieved in interaction with others. Through a detailed reading of Toni and Claudia’s stories I explore the tensions for young women who are engaging in mathematics, something that is discursively inscribed as masculine, while (understandably) being invested in producing themselves as female. I conclude by arguing that seeing ‘doing mathematics’ as ‘doing masculinity’ is a productive way of understanding why mathematics is so male dominated and by looking at the implications of this understanding for gender and mathematics reform work. |
Description: | Copyright @ 2005 Taylor & Francis |
URI: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036060 http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/5894 |
ISSN: | 0142-5692 |
Appears in Collections: | Dept of Education Research Papers |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Fulltext.pdf | 200.78 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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