Gender Bias in New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) Physics

Title: Gender Bias in New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) Physics
Creator: Keast, Vicki J.
Relation: Australian Journal of Education Vol. 66, Issue 1, p. 26-39
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00049441211059239
Publisher: Sage
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2021
Description: A sense of belonging is an important factor for the persistence of girls in the study of physics. Content and imagery that presents the field as a masculine domain will undermine belonging and make it more difficult for girls to establish a physics identity that is congruent with their gender identity. The physics syllabus, final examinations and commonly used textbooks associated with the New South Wales Higher School Certificate were examined for gendered content. It was found that an emphasis on the history of physics in the syllabus has resulted in content and images in which male figures significantly outnumber female figures. This gendered content will be counter-productive to other efforts to increase the participation of girls in physics and suggestions on how this can be addressed are made.
Subject: gender bias; gender stereotypes; physics; examinations; curriculum design; textbooks; SDG 5; Sustainable Development Goals
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1459638
Identifier: uon:45731
Identifier: ISSN:0004-9441
Language: eng
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