Jill Duffield’s research while affiliated with University of Dundee and other places

The past 15 years have seen a persistent underrepresentation of girls in school science and technology subjects. The article is in three parts. The first part surveys the persistence of girls' opting out of science and technology in their school option choices and reviews from a wide range of literature the influences which affect girls' choices. These influences are: early socialisation, primary teachers as change agents, option choice processes, guidance and careers advice, teachers and teaching, and work experience. The second part presents a meta-analysis of initiatives to encourage girls and women into science, engineering and technology (SET) courses and careers, drawing upon a survey undertaken as part of a Scottish initiative to encourage women students and staff to enter courses in SET in higher education and to progress in careers there. The analysis is then used to illuminate various school initiatives and to estimate the likelihood of their success in addressing the underlying influences on girls' choices away from science and technology.

In this paper, arising out of the first stage of a research project entitled “Winning Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology in Higher Education in Scotland,” and funded by SHEFC (Scottish Higher Education Funding Council), we consider the extent of the problem of women’s under-representation in SET in higher education and speculatively ask whether there are epistemological and pedagogical questions that need to be addressed in order to ameliorate women’s position. We set the scene by considering the nature of the problem of women’s under-representation in SET in higher education at three stages: access to higher education, participation in courses in higher education, and progression through careers in higher education for women staff. We conclude that Winning Women in science, engineering, and technology in higher education in Scotland (and beyond) is an endeavour that is going to nee more than a quick fix. It requires a radical rethinking of the way women and their lived experience are admitted, valued, and promoted in higher education.

School effectiveness research and current government targets for raising standards assume a generic effectiveness attainable by any school through best practice models. This article explores some contrasts at classroom level, revealed in research based in schools differing both in measured effectiveness and in the socio-economic characteristics of the intake populations. The findings, focusing particularly on lower-achieving pupils in the early secondary years, indicated that tasks especially in English, classroom interactions and pupils’ responses to teaching approaches varied by social context. The social composition of the school population is a powerful determinant of the culture of learning within a school and this is reflected in pupils’ learning experiences.

This article outlines the findings of a SHEFC‐funded project aimed at redressing the gender imbalance within science, engineering and technology (SET) subjects in higher education (HE). A review is presented of women's current career positions in SET at various levels within HE and explanations of the gender discrepancy provided. The article compares this gender discrepancy amongst SET employees in HE with the SET situation outwith HE, offering a gradated theoretical framework for understanding the barriers facing women and the potential routes and solutions to overcoming these problems. This article concludes with a discussion of ‘effective’ strategies for overcoming these problems, raises issues concerning measuring the effectiveness of such strategies and considers how the resultant recommendations from this study are reflected in the Dearing Report.