Girls in Science and Technology: The development of a discourse

T his article discus ses the contrib ution of educa tional research to the em ergence of a discourse on `the p rob lem of girls in scienc e and technology ' in the N etherland s. R esearch has no t only p roduce d nd ings and recom m endatio ns, b ut also conce ptualisations of the p rob lem . W e argue that it has gradually b ecom e self-evident to think of the attitudes, achievem ent and choices of girls pertaining to science and techno logy as the prob lem of gender ineq uality in educa tion. T he results of m any studies focus ing on connec tions b etw een teach er b ehaviour, the sub jec t m atter and school characteristics on the one hand and attitudes , achievem ent and choices of girls on the other, appear to b e disap pointing. W e suggest that b oth the q uestions that w ere asked and the w ay they w ere investigated are resp onsib le for the disappointing results. W e propose that research on gender and education should not b e lim ited to the investigation of statistical correlations b etw een scho ol characteristics and student outcom es, b ut should also study the m echanism s and processes that m ediate b etw een these factors. I nsights from w om en' s studies on the social construction of gender and on the develop m ent of gendered identities could b e useful in addressing this issue.