Not Exactly "Clyde Girl Material": Deconstructing Belonging at an Elite New York City All-Girls School

• In Event: 29.082 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.082-1 - Conceptualization, Measurement, and Significance of School and Campus Communities

Abstract

In this qualitative study, I look at the discursive practices that high school students at the Clyde School--an elite, private all-girls school in Manhattan--associate with the “Clyde Girl,” a constructed idealized archetype. Using a critical analysis of discourse (McCall, 2014), I examine students’ definitions and perceptions of the Clyde Girl ideal, tracing storylines (Søndergaard, 2002) of how the archetype informs girls’ sense of membership within the school community. The purpose is to explore how students negotiate dominant discourses of empowerment and belonging. I ask, whose ways of being and knowing are valued, what are the implications for those who perceive themselves outside of the “ideal” girl, and how might available discourses be reimagined to foster more inclusive school communities?

Author

• Emily Bailin Wells, Teachers College, Columbia University