Marie Curie, with her two Nobel prizes, is presented as the icon of a female physicist, even as a role model for young women, showing that women can excel in physics. However, when she is put forward, a question arises: If geniality and hard work are the only things that are needed to make scientific discoveries, why is she the lone female star in the history of physics?
This presentation...
In this talk, I will offer a critical synthesis of studies on gender matters in science education from 2014 until 2022 with a focus on physics. The talk is organized around 3 research areas: a) understanding gender gaps and gender stereotypes in physics, b) gender performativity and identity-based approaches to gender explorations, c) intersectional approaches and queer theories in physics. In...
In this workshop, we will work towards cultivating an awareness of manifestations of epistemic injustice within physics. Epistemic injustice involves the discrimination of a group of knowers in their capacity as knowers. Such discrimination may happen on the basis of somebody’s classification as a ‘sub-knower’ within an imbalanced power structure. We will draw on participants’ experience...
Physics is strongly associated with objectivity, and its content is usually taught and learned based on the assumption that physical phenomena can be truthfully studied and represented with human influence. Such an emphasis on objectivity is consistent with a masculinist, White supremacist, and Eurocentric view of science. A consequence of this is the pervasive belief that subjectivities are...
When considering diversity and underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), socioeconomic status is often overlooked. Within the UK, targeted recruitment strategies, contextualised admissions schemes, and outreach programmes attempt to improve equality of opportunity and access to higher education (HE) in underrepresented students. To an extent they are a...
