Unequal preferences [EN]
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Development of a theoretically grounded empirical research approach on the relationship between choice of field of study and gender attributions.
Why are there still clearly unequal preferences of women and men in the choice of subjects for teaching or social work and in the technical and natural sciences despite enormous social change and numerous educational policy measures? In order to answer this leading question about a solidified inequality relation, the research project, conceived as a cooperation between social and technical sciences, is doing theoretical and empirical preliminary work for the application of a DFG research group. For the first time, disciplines from research fields that have so far taken little notice of each other (sociology of gender, empirical education research, gender-theoretical technology research) are cooperating in this project, which aims to focus on the interfaces between education and higher education research, gender research and technology research.
In the joint project, hitherto scattered international research findings will be bundled and - on the basis of the main areas of work of the participating disciplines - empirical data on the above-mentioned courses of study (teaching, social work, technology and natural sciences) will be generated. A qualitative and a quantitative survey of students and teachers, a sociological document analysis on measures to increase the proportion of the underrepresented gender, as well as an actor network analysis and participant observation on gender-related activity references and materialization processes of subject cultures are planned. The aim of the research project is to develop a gender-theoretically and empirically grounded research approach that for the first time systematically examines social and technical science fields of study in a comparative manner. All subprojects of the subsequently planned network (interdisciplinary DFG research group) refer to this approach in order to explain causes and backgrounds for unequal preferences in the choice of study subjects.