Urban Teen Women's Film Productions: An Exploration of Science and Engineering Agency as Transformational Pivots

• In Event: Interventions Influencing Student Sucess
  In Roundtable Session: Research on Gender in STEM

Abstract

Science educators struggle to design learning experiences and provide tools that meaningfully engage youth. This study examines the affordances of film production for providing access to new forms of participation in science and engineering (S/E) for teen women from historically marginalized groups. Drawing on critical science agency as a theoretical frame, we present findings from an analysis of four youth-produced films that highlight the varied ways that urban teen women positioned themselves as authors, leveraged their unique funds of knowledge, and collectively made S/E contributions with implications for action. This study revealed important pivots in how S/E can be accomplished, what it can look like and do, and how S/E can impact women’s participation.

Authors

• April L. Luehmann, University of Rochester

• Angela Calabrese Barton, University of Michigan

• Jessica J. Thompson, University of Washington

• Sara Hagenah, Boise State University

• Rachel Chaffee, American Museum of Natural History