Mathematics education

Cognitive psychology

Engineering

Philosophy

Affordance

Aerospace engineering

Ethnic group

Social psychology

Gender studies

Pedagogy

Operating system

Space Science

Computer science

Masculinity

Anthropology

Physics

Identity (music)

Aesthetics

Psychology

Astronomy

Silence

Science learning

Epistemology

Sociology

Race (biology)

Class (philosophy)

Space (punctuation)

Science education

Gender and Education

Science education has a seemingly intractable gender problem and remains largely the reserve of White, middle-class men and boys, especially in the physical sciences. In this paper, taking an intersectional approach to Butler's idea of identity as performance, we explore the affordances and limitations of a specific science learning space (a science museum) for girls. We discuss four types of performance, one based on 'good' behaviour, one combining masculinity and 'race'/ethnicity, one of silence and one based on being 'cool'. We focus on the experiences of 25 girls aged 12-13, from a mixture of ethnic backgrounds, from two inner-city, state-run, co-educational London schools, in the UK. We argue that the museum space put girls in a difficult position for both learning science and enacting the identities they were invested in. We conclude by reflecting on the implications for science learning spaces that disrupt rather than reproduce social inequalities.

Selfies at the science museum: exploring girls’ identity performances in a science learning space