Struggling for Success: An Ethnographic Exploration of the Construction of Young
Femininities in a Selective, Single-Sex School
The research that preceded the WWW project was an ethnographic investigation of the ways in which privately educated primary school girls perceived, experienced and negotiated academic achievement and their gendered identities. The main aims of this project were:
Context for the research
At the time in which this initial research project began there had been little systematic research on the ways in which primary school children negotiated academic achievement in relation to gender and class. Girls’ academic success, in particular, was often regarded as unproblematic, despite evidence of low self-esteem and stereotyped educational and occupational aspirations (Renold 2001). A number of academic studies had tried to explore the topic of academic success in some depth, yet even within the academic literature it appeared that the experiences of middle and upper middle class girls (especially those that have been privately educated) had been relatively unexplored (see Proweller 1998, Walkerdine et al 2001, Evans et al 2004 and Delamont 1989 for exceptions). As such, this research project was designed as a systematic and in-depth exploration of identity construction in this unique setting.
Research design and methods
The study was an ethnographic investigation that took place over two school years, adopting a multi-method approach. In accordance with the underlying principles of the ‘new’ sociology of childhood the project employed a range of participatory techniques (Christensen and James 2000). The research involved immersion in the social setting as a participant observer for an extended period of time, focused group interviews and a lunchtime photography club where the girls worked to represent their identities visually in the form of photographic diaries . In the final stages of the research several of the girls were also involved in a form of participatory data analysis.
Findings
The data generated during the project led to the following conclusions being drawn:
- Even in a single sex, selective school (where the populations of pupils and their achievements appear on the surface to be homogenous), multiple ‘pupil’ and ‘gender’ identities exist.
- The girls all negotiated academic achievement in a variety of ways; often struggling with their learner identities as ‘pupils’ despite the fact that they were attaining the highest of grades.
- The girls’ subjective experiences of academic success trouble the notion of academic ‘excellence’ that is prevalent in many policy documents. The girls in this study, despite attending a school where success was celebrated and apparently ‘open to everyone’, struggled with the strong individualised, competitive and narrow nature of academic success, mainly because it did not fit with dominant discourses of femininity.
- Academic achievement must be understood as fragile and performative in nature. It must be viewed as a process that is not fixed or stable, but rather as something that has to be constantly proved, performed and worked upon.
- In this environment there were girls in existence who were commonly viewed as 'underachievers'. This highlights the importance of exploring and understanding the complexities and contradictions involved in inhabiting an identity like this (i.e. the ‘underachieving high achiever’).
- The notion of the ‘all successful’, ‘can do’ middle class girl can also be questioned. Even in this upper middle-class setting fine class distinctions were found to be made between girls, and success for some depended heavily on the failure of others.
Further details
To find out more about this project please contact the researcher by using the email address displayed on the home page or turn to the resources page for related publications. The project was funded by the ESRC (PTA-026-27-1260) and was supervised by Dr Emma Renold and Professor Amanda Coffey. Further information on conducting 'follow up' studies or 'researching over time' can be found on the methods page on this website.
- To explore how ‘high achieving’ girls differently managed and negotiated their gender identities as ‘girls’ with their academic identities as ‘pupils’.
- To examine the extent to which gendered cultures and discourses impacted upon girls’ approaches and disposition to school, schoolwork, achievement and future educational pathways.
- To analyse the ways in which the girls’ perceptions and experiences shaped, and were shaped by, age and social class
- To examine the social construction of ‘high achievement’ and what it meant to be a ‘high achiever’ in a selective, fee-paying school.
Context for the research
At the time in which this initial research project began there had been little systematic research on the ways in which primary school children negotiated academic achievement in relation to gender and class. Girls’ academic success, in particular, was often regarded as unproblematic, despite evidence of low self-esteem and stereotyped educational and occupational aspirations (Renold 2001). A number of academic studies had tried to explore the topic of academic success in some depth, yet even within the academic literature it appeared that the experiences of middle and upper middle class girls (especially those that have been privately educated) had been relatively unexplored (see Proweller 1998, Walkerdine et al 2001, Evans et al 2004 and Delamont 1989 for exceptions). As such, this research project was designed as a systematic and in-depth exploration of identity construction in this unique setting.
Research design and methods
The study was an ethnographic investigation that took place over two school years, adopting a multi-method approach. In accordance with the underlying principles of the ‘new’ sociology of childhood the project employed a range of participatory techniques (Christensen and James 2000). The research involved immersion in the social setting as a participant observer for an extended period of time, focused group interviews and a lunchtime photography club where the girls worked to represent their identities visually in the form of photographic diaries . In the final stages of the research several of the girls were also involved in a form of participatory data analysis.
Findings
The data generated during the project led to the following conclusions being drawn:
- Even in a single sex, selective school (where the populations of pupils and their achievements appear on the surface to be homogenous), multiple ‘pupil’ and ‘gender’ identities exist.
- The girls all negotiated academic achievement in a variety of ways; often struggling with their learner identities as ‘pupils’ despite the fact that they were attaining the highest of grades.
- The girls’ subjective experiences of academic success trouble the notion of academic ‘excellence’ that is prevalent in many policy documents. The girls in this study, despite attending a school where success was celebrated and apparently ‘open to everyone’, struggled with the strong individualised, competitive and narrow nature of academic success, mainly because it did not fit with dominant discourses of femininity.
- Academic achievement must be understood as fragile and performative in nature. It must be viewed as a process that is not fixed or stable, but rather as something that has to be constantly proved, performed and worked upon.
- In this environment there were girls in existence who were commonly viewed as 'underachievers'. This highlights the importance of exploring and understanding the complexities and contradictions involved in inhabiting an identity like this (i.e. the ‘underachieving high achiever’).
- The notion of the ‘all successful’, ‘can do’ middle class girl can also be questioned. Even in this upper middle-class setting fine class distinctions were found to be made between girls, and success for some depended heavily on the failure of others.
Further details
To find out more about this project please contact the researcher by using the email address displayed on the home page or turn to the resources page for related publications. The project was funded by the ESRC (PTA-026-27-1260) and was supervised by Dr Emma Renold and Professor Amanda Coffey. Further information on conducting 'follow up' studies or 'researching over time' can be found on the methods page on this website.
