Understanding Young People's Science Aspirations: How students form ideas about becoming a scientist [Hardcover]

1. Why Study Young Peoples Science Aspirations?  2. What Do Young People Today Aspire to?  3. Schools, Lessons and Science Identities  4. The Brainy Scientist  5. The Role of Families, Social Class and Science Capital on Young Peoples Aspirations  6. Gender, Girls and Science Aspirations  7. Ethnicity and Science Aspirations: British Asian and British Black students  8. Conclusions and Implications for Research, Policy and Practice

Louise Archer is Professor of Sociology of Education at Kings College London, UK.

Jennifer DeWitt is Research Fellow at Kings College London, UK.

Understanding Young People's Science Aspirations offers new evidence and understanding about how young people develop their aspirations for education, learning and, ultimately, careers in science. Integrating new findings from a major research study with a wide ranging review of existing international literature, it brings a distinctive sociological analytic lens to the field of science education.

The book offers an explanation of how some young people do become dedicated to follow science, and what might be done to increase and broaden