Constructing an Analytical Framework

Abstract

have used this theory mainly to position themselves, and to outline the implications of their positions for gender and science education reform. Eisenhart and Finkel (2001) is the only publication I have come across that attempts to use feminist theory to analyse education reform programmes in science education. Barton (1998) has analysed what gender initiatives in science education have followed historically from the different " waves " of feminist critique of science. Presenting feminist critiques of science for the purpose of understan-ding various approaches to gender equity in science education is therefore an exploratory task. In my reading of feminist critiques of science, I have searched for different perspectives regarding the impact of sex/gender on how scientists engage in science inquiry. I have used these perspecti-ves as a point of departure to reflect on how sex/gender impacts on how male and female pupils engage in science education. Based on different understandings of how sex/gender might impact on pupils' engagement in science education, I suggest three alternative approaches that initiatives might choose to secure increased gender equity in science education; a gender neutral, a female friendly and a gender sensitive approach. These concepts are widely used within literature on gender issues in science education. Often, however, they are used invariably and without a consis-tent meaning. In this article I show that each approach can in fact be seen to represent a distinct understanding of how sex/gender impacts on pupils' engagement in science education and hence represent different understandings of what actions are needed in order to increase gender equity in science education.