Empirical Research

1
Empirical Research An Overview

• Jim Ridgway
• Durham University
• Jim.ridgway_at_durham.ac.uk

2
Understanding

• Socio-cultural factors
• Very big national differences Poland -- England
• Beliefs in essential differences
• Political campaigns
• Parent pressure or support for autonomy
• Supportive or unsupportive employment legislation

3
Understanding

• Pedagogical factors
• Portrayal in texts
• Gendered courses (cookery vs woodwork)
• School behaviour
• Work hard, persist, engage, are systematic and
  neat, help friends
• Classroom behaviour
• Disrupt, volunteer, ask questions, are diligent,
  competitive
• Teacher beliefs (Poland) in inherent differences
• Teacher questioning

4
Understanding

• Impact of the digital divide
• Computer studies is male
• ICT not much used in mathematics (despite the
  rhetoric)
• we need to explore this further

5
Understanding

• Decision making
• pull and rational decision making are common
  claims
• Big national differences in the perceived
  influences of parents, other students, cultural
  influences such as the acceptability of a career
  woman

6
Implications for Action

• Monitoring educational changes
• STEM and the rest
• Engaging policy makers (e.g. Greece, France)
• Better employment legislation
• Revised curricula (school and university)
• the rest, as well as STEM
• content and pedagogy