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Ignoring Half the Sky: A Feminist Critique of Science Education’s Knowledge Society

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Book cover Science Education for Diversity

Part of the book series: Cultural Studies of Science Education ((CSSE,volume 8))

Abstract

A Chinese proverb observes that women ‘hold up half the sky’, yet often in science education we have ignored the knowledge generated by feminist researchers about how females engage and participate in science. Further, science education has often failed to consider the implications from feminist critiques of science on science education. This chapter will provide a feminist perspective on who generates knowledge in science education and what knowledge is acceptable as ‘scientific’ by the field. Second, we will discuss the culture of science education and discuss whether science educators value the knowledge produced by gender and feminist researchers. In particular, we will examine the integration (or lack thereof) of gender issues into the dominant areas in science education research, such as teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, the development of students’ science knowledge through inquiry, the role of conceptual change, and teachers’ preparation and professional development programmes. Third, we will provide examples of how gender theory and feminist perspectives in science education could generate new knowledge about gender and science education.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Programme for International Student Assessment.

  2. 2.

    The four journals were International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Research in Science Education and Science Education.

  3. 3.

    Cultural Studies of Science Education has organised a small conference focussed on sociocultural issues impacting science education for journal editors, reviewers and contributors and researchers in this area of science education.

  4. 4.

    For example, in the United States, the ‘committee of ten’ decided that students would first study biology, then chemistry and lastly physics. Scientists in the nineteenth century introduced this ‘layer cake’ approach to the curriculum which remains dominant in the twenty-first century (DeBoer 1991).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Anita Hussénius & Kristina Andersson

  2. University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden

    Annica Gullberg

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    Kathryn Scantlebury

  4. Center for Secondary Teacher Education, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    Kathryn Scantlebury

Authors
  1. Anita Hussénius
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  2. Kristina Andersson
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  3. Annica Gullberg
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  4. Kathryn Scantlebury
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathryn Scantlebury .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. St Luke's Campus, Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, United Kingdom

    Nasser Mansour

  2. St. Lukes Campus, University of Exeter, Heavitree Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2LU, United Kingdom

    Rupert Wegerif

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Hussénius, A., Andersson, K., Gullberg, A., Scantlebury, K. (2013). Ignoring Half the Sky: A Feminist Critique of Science Education’s Knowledge Society. In: Mansour, N., Wegerif, R. (eds) Science Education for Diversity. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4563-6_14

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