Enriching gender in physics education research: A binary past and a complex future
Traxler, A. L., Cid, X. C., Blue, J., & Barthelemy, R. (2016). Enriching gender in physics education research: A binary past and a complex future. Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research, 12(2), Article 020114. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.12.020114
Date
2016Copyright
© the Authors, 2016. This is an open access article published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] In this article, we draw on previous
reports from physics, science education, and women’s studies to propose a more nuanced treatment of gender
in physics education research (PER). A growing body of PER examines gender differences in participation,
performance, and attitudes toward physics. We have three critiques of this work: (i) it does not question
whether the achievements of men are the most appropriate standard, (ii) individual experiences and student
identities are undervalued, and (iii) the binary model of gender is not questioned. Driven by these critiques,
we propose a conception of gender that is more up to date with other fields and discuss gender as performance
as an extended example. We also discuss work on the intersection of identities [e.g., gender with race and
ethnicity, socioeconomic status, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) status], much of which has
been conducted outside of physics. Within PER, some studies examine the intersection of gender and race,
and identify the lack of a single identity as a key challenge of “belonging” in physics. Acknowledging this
complexity enables us to further critique what we term a binary gender deficit model. This framework, which
is implicit in much of the gender-based PER, casts gender as a fixed binary trait and suggests that women are
deficient in characteristics necessary to succeed. Alternative models of gender allow a greater range and
fluidity of gender identities, and highlight deficiencies in data that exclude women’s experiences. We suggest
new investigations that diverge from this expanded gender framework in PER.
...


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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © the Authors, 2016. This is an open access article published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
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