Stories of Women Science Majors: A Diffractive Narrative Analysis of Three Women’s Experiences with Science
Open AccessThe puzzle that this study addresses is the disproportionately low number of women in science careers. To add to the existing body of research on the underrepresentation of women in science, this study explored the human and more-than-human, entangled experiences of undergraduate women who were pursuing science degrees and potential teaching careers. The women were interested in science—as was evident in their studies in science—and were exploring an alternative to becoming a research scientist, as was evident in their studies in education. Narrative inquiry was used to explore their experiences in science. Karen Barad’s onto-ethical-epistemology of agential realism provides the theoretical framework through which the experiences’ diffraction patterns were explored. The narratives showed examples of resonance and examples of dissonance between the epistemologies of the women and the culture of science that they experienced. Readers will intra-act with the narratives, awakening wisdom regarding issues influencing women’s persistence in science. Material ways of knowing science and relational ways of knowing science are seen throughout the narratives. These ways of knowing are typically ignored by studies on the epistemologies of science, but have been highlighted in feminist epistemologies. I therefore advocate for an embracing of multiple epistemologies of science, one of which being feminist epistemologies.
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