The WWW Research Project
Introduction
The 'Who I was, Where I am, What I want to be' research project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and began in 2009. The research followed twenty five young people through their final years of Sixth-Form schooling.
Participants
The young people were all aged between 16 and 17 at the start of the project and were largely young women (owing to the project's original focus on the experiences of young women in single-sex, private education). When one of the project schools became co-educational some young men did become involved in the project. The parents and guardians of these young people were also interviewed as part of the study.
Context
The project was based in Sixth-Form departments in two selective, fee-paying, private schools. One department had traditionally been very academically orientated, whilst the other had a strong religious and pastoral focus. Both departments were based in schools that were originally single-sex girls' schools. Only one remained as single-sex establishment by the end of the project.
Focus
The 'WWW' project title was adopted as a way of explaining the focus of the research. As the title suggests the aim of the research was to explore young people's present, retrospective and prospective accounts of growing up in, and attending a private educational establishment. Both the young people and their parents were also asked about their reasons for investing in a private education and their perceptions of the related risks. Some other points of focus that developed during the project include:
- Gender
- Academic achievement
-Social class
- Young people's use of space
The Researcher
The principal (and sole) researcher was Dr Alexandra Allan from the Graduate School of Education, Exeter University. Dr Allan has long-term research interests in gender, young femininities, social class, academic achievement, sexualities and elite schooling. She is currently the Programme Director for the MSc in Educational Research, at Exeter which is a programme run as part of the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Centre.
Dr Allan is a member of the Gender and Education Executive Committee (GEA), a member of the British Journal of Sociology of Education Review Board (BJSE), a co-leader of the British Educational Research Association Sexualities Special Interest Group (BERA), and the Reviews Editor for the Gender and Education Journal. Dr Allan recently organised the 8th International Gender and Education Conference: 'Gender and Education: Past, Present and Future'.
Please click here to find out more about the project and to download a project summary. A final project report will also be available soon.
The 'Who I was, Where I am, What I want to be' research project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and began in 2009. The research followed twenty five young people through their final years of Sixth-Form schooling.
Participants
The young people were all aged between 16 and 17 at the start of the project and were largely young women (owing to the project's original focus on the experiences of young women in single-sex, private education). When one of the project schools became co-educational some young men did become involved in the project. The parents and guardians of these young people were also interviewed as part of the study.
Context
The project was based in Sixth-Form departments in two selective, fee-paying, private schools. One department had traditionally been very academically orientated, whilst the other had a strong religious and pastoral focus. Both departments were based in schools that were originally single-sex girls' schools. Only one remained as single-sex establishment by the end of the project.
Focus
The 'WWW' project title was adopted as a way of explaining the focus of the research. As the title suggests the aim of the research was to explore young people's present, retrospective and prospective accounts of growing up in, and attending a private educational establishment. Both the young people and their parents were also asked about their reasons for investing in a private education and their perceptions of the related risks. Some other points of focus that developed during the project include:
- Gender
- Academic achievement
-Social class
- Young people's use of space
The Researcher
The principal (and sole) researcher was Dr Alexandra Allan from the Graduate School of Education, Exeter University. Dr Allan has long-term research interests in gender, young femininities, social class, academic achievement, sexualities and elite schooling. She is currently the Programme Director for the MSc in Educational Research, at Exeter which is a programme run as part of the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Centre.
Dr Allan is a member of the Gender and Education Executive Committee (GEA), a member of the British Journal of Sociology of Education Review Board (BJSE), a co-leader of the British Educational Research Association Sexualities Special Interest Group (BERA), and the Reviews Editor for the Gender and Education Journal. Dr Allan recently organised the 8th International Gender and Education Conference: 'Gender and Education: Past, Present and Future'.
Please click here to find out more about the project and to download a project summary. A final project report will also be available soon.
