Swimming Against the Tide: African American Girls and Science Education - Softcover

Hanson, Sandra

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1592136222 ISBN 13: 9781592136223

Publisher: Temple University Press, 2009

Synopsis

“They looked at us like we were not supposed to be scientists,” says one young African American girl, describing one openly hostile reaction she encountered in the classroom. In this significant study, Sandra Hanson explains that although many young minority girls are interested in science, the racism and sexism in the field discourage them from pursuing it after high school. Those girls that remain highly motivated to continue studying science must “swim against the tide.”

Hanson examines the experiences of African American girls in science education using multiple methods of quantitative and qualitative research, including a web survey and vignette techniques. She understands the complex interaction between race and gender in the science domain and, using a multicultural and feminist framework of analysis, addresses the role of agency and resistance that encourages and sustains interest in science in African American families and communities.

About this title

About the Author:

Sandra L. Hanson is Professor of Sociology and Research Associate at Life Cycle Institute, Catholic University. She is the author of Lost Talent: Women in the Sciences (Temple).

Review:

"Swimming Against the Tide addresses a crucial lacunae in the body of literature on women in science, particularly women of color. This is a ‘new’ and innovative approach, since very few book publications on women in science have addressed the subject of African American women in science and from an age specific and culturally relevant perspective. Theoretically and methodologically strong, this is an example of feminist scholarship at its best." 
—Josephine Beoku-Betts, Professor of Women’s Studies and Sociology, Florida Atlantic University

"Swimming Against the Tide addresses important research issues, with implications for the cultivation and retention of scientific talent and for practice and policy in science education. It also has implications for understanding the 'culture of science’ and the factors that encourage/discourage participation. Hanson’s statistical data and analyses are significant in the strength of findings, [in the] power of inference for young women's interest in and perceptions about science, and for the ways in which race and gender do/do not operate together in affecting outcomes for young women"
— Mary Frank Fox, Advance Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology

"[A]n excellent resource for those who are not familiar with this body of literature about race and science.... This book, overall, is an important contribution to our understanding of the gender, race, and class dynamics that influence the career decision-making of young women...Hanson's synthesis of previous studies on the subject makes this a valuable resource for those hoping to expand and deepen an understanding about how our educational system and science culture itself should be transformed to be a welcoming place for all who have an interest in exploring nature and the world in which we live." 
—Teachers College Record

About this edition

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1592136222
• ISBN 13: 9781592136223
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224