University subject choice and discourses of decision-making amongst AS Level mathematics students.

1
University subject choice and discourses of
decision-making amongst AS Level mathematics
students.

• Pauline Davis Maria Pampaka
• University of Manchester

2
General framework
Classroom practices
Learner identities
Programme effectiveness
March 06
Questionnaire design
Pilot case studies
(i) initial interviews
(i) initial questionnaire
Case studies in UoM and traditional AS
Sept 06
(ii) interviews round 2
(ii) post test
June 07
(ii) follow-up interviews
(ii) delayed post test
Follow up case studies
Sept 07
Dec 07
3

Social differences in University degree subject
choice e.g. ethnicity
Likelihood of a Minority Ethnic student
intending on a University Degree Subject to that
of a White British student for questionnaire
sample 1700 Ethnic subject choice differences
confirmed also in Hutcheson et al (2008),
statistical analysis
4
Sociocultural differences and subject choice
findings from the questionnaire data

• Ethnic and gender differences in subject choice
  preferences broadly supporting existing
  literature
• Family expectations
• White British heritage students behaved
  differently to other minority ethnic categories,
  which broadly speaking followed the same trends
• No discrepant gender differences between
  ethnicity
• Proportionally more Other than White British
  students indicated family expectation for
  university
• Subject choice
• Students who indicated a preference for certain
  highly prestigious degree subjects e.g.
  medicine and dentistry, almost all also indicated
  family expectations for university, regardless of
  their heritage
• Students not intending on university connected
  with no family expectations or expect I will
  not go. Only White students indicated no family
  expectations for university.

5
A bar graph of students perceived family
expectations for university split by ethnic group
6
Other cultural influences?

• Our survey data picked up on social differences
  with regard to perceived family expectations for
  university in relation to ethnicity and subject
  choice
• But we know that the most culturally situated
  practices are often invisible to the participants
  (e.g. Hall) for example, possible
  family,sibling, peer or teacher influence may
  simply be unrecognised.
• Self-report perception data analysis Is there a
  connection with students discourses of
  educational choices and decision-making?

7
Seeking explanation in the interview data

• The 32 interviewees aged 16 and 19
• Most were from 1st generation to HE families
• 15 were female
• 18 were non-white - African, North American,
  Bangladeshi, Bornean, Brazilian, Bulgarian,
  Caribbean, Chinese, Columbian, East Asian,
  Ghanian, Nigerian, Pakistani, Somali, and
  Ugandan, incl. 7 recent immigrants to Britain
• The semi-structured interviews focused on
  students past and present experiences of learning
  maths, how they chose their A level and degree
  subjects, their educational and career
  aspirations and the role of maths in their
  imagined futures
• Students interviewed 3 or 4 times over eighteen
  months.
• Davis et al (2008) Aspirations, subject choice
  and drop out decision-making amongst AS Level
  mathematics students, working paper series
  (http//www.lta.education.manchester.ac.uk/TLRP/i
  ndex.htm).

8
Cultural Models beliefs that inform actions
James Gee mediate practice/identity

• Davis et al.(2008) identified a number of
  cultural models which students drew on
  repeatedly, either in conformity or in
  resistance, and used to present themselves in
  certain ways e.g. as a dutiful son doing. These
  included
• a womans role is to support the family, you
  have to play the game to get ahead, its in my
  bones/culture to become a.., respect for
  parents/elders, making family proud and
  various aspirational and other culturally
  influenced ideological values.
• Others may use different terms/ alternative
  constructions Triandis multi-dimensional
  cultural syndrome seen in shared attitudes,
  beliefs, norms, role and self definition, and
  values of members of each culture organised
  around a theme (p 407)

9
Contribution Two discourses of educational
decision-making

• - How students talk
• Discourse Analysis Gee
• This identified two distinct discourses about
  university subject choice decision-making
• - individualistic
• - relational community focused -collectivist
• These discourses aligned respectively with White
  British and non-White British students
• They show university subject choice
  decision-making as culturally produced and
  provide for understanding about influences on
  educational decision-making.

10
You dont want to go away? No my parents say
stay local. Why is that? Only child
(Mohamed, Pakistani recent immigrant) J Are
any other people that you know well enough to
talk to about it other than your brother who went
to Lucy No. Because it was my choice, what I
wanted to do, so they just encouraged me on what
I wanted to do. Not what anyone else wanted me to
do J Theres no one in your extended sort
of family and uncles and aunts and things like
that? So youve got one example that you feel is
a bit discouraging maybe from going to uni? L
Well yes but I just dont see why that affects
me because this is their choice and this is my
choice (Lucy, White working class)
11
A relational community/collectivist discourse,
valuing educational success

• Discourse of decisions made in relation to family
  connections/influences (a relational community
  model)
• - Talk recognised community/ family
  connections and can be seen to be relational
• Various defining cultural models
• - discourse of making family proud
• - Respect for elders - e.g. being a dutiful
  son, or a respectful student
• - Respect for educational success, certain
  professions/careers
• - Perceptions of goals as culturally mediated.
• - Perceptions of strong parental expectations
  for university
• Asian especially evident in the talk of the
  recent immigrant students
• Chao draws on this same group of cultural models
  which she terms filial piety and uses this with
  other measures of parental behaviour to model
  cultural differences in students educational
  goals, motivations and behaviours to explain the
  cultural processes at work.

12
Hernandez-Martinez et al (2008) Becoming
successful repertoire

• See also Hernandez-Martinez et al (2008)
  Becoming successful repertoire - Students
  talked about going to university as a way to
  achieve social respectability and their career
  choices were narrowed by what is culturally
  regarded as a reputable or respectable profession
  such as Medicine, Accountancy, Business or Law.
• Parental expectations about their childrens
  choices for future education was strongly
  present. Hernandez-Martinez et al identified this
  especially amongst Asian students.
• (Extract taken from end of project
  dissemination presentation, Hernandez-Martinez)

13
MP Your parents wanted you to have a better
education so they want you to go to University as
well? Mohammed Yes, they are saying we are
staying here for your education and then you can
complete it and they can go back. Anupreet I
find it really surprising. Because in Pakistan
you are always taught to respect your teacher
whereas here they dont respect teachers which I
dont think is fair on the teachers because at
the end of the day they are teaching you.
14
MP If you were a girl would you probably do
something different? Mohammad (M) Probably a
doctor. MP Why, do you think girls are ..? M I
dont know, in a family most Asian girls like to
be doctors. MP Why is that? M I dont know.
Its just that the family, they want them to do
good. MP And they want them to be doctors? M
Boys as well, doctors. MP The same, it doesnt
matter. M Its the respect, you see. If
someones a doctor in your family, everyone
respects you the family. And thats why they
parents want their children to be doctors. MP
So any other jobs that are respectful? Just
doctors? M I think, mostly Ive heard about
doctors in my country. MP What about your
decision, I mean, Accountancy? How do they see
it? M Its respect in my family.
15
No, its ok, yeah,
because Medicine is like ... one of the reasons
why I chose Biology was because my Mum wanted me
to go in Medicine, you know, she thought.., Your
Mum? Yeah. (Pakistani female, Anupreet, recent
immigrant ) Well it pushes me away from
Pharmacy more, because I hate, I cant do Biology
or Chemistry, Im just terrible at it. I think
the only reason they want me to go into that is
because my little sisters very, shes very smart
and were all expecting her to be a doctor and
they all want me to go into that as well That
kind of pushes me away from it. Like maybe you
need a roof one day, so Ill be there. (female
Pakistani heritage student who wants to be a
mechanical engineer.)
16
PHM Do you think your own background or your
neighbourhood where you live might have an
influence in your choices and decisions? Sabir
(dropped maths and changed to business, taking an
additional year in 6thf College) If youre
talking about my background as in community-wise
then yeah, because everyones looking forward to
seeing me go to University. My sister, my
twin-sister already training at University
already and its a great responsibility and
pressure on me to go to University as well, no
matter what course I choose they really are
looking forward to me actually going to
University now. In some ways yes it is. PHM Your
family environment is pushing you to go to
University? Sabir Yes. MP How important is it
for you to go to university? Punab (steered by
Mum to computer science instead of drama) I have
a lot of expectations to go to university. I
mean the family, they all want me to go to
university. MP And are you the first one to go
or anybody from your family....? P No, I think
my brother went so, yeah. But I guess every
parent wants their children to go to
university. MP Have your parents gone to
university, or...? P Im not sure, I didnt
really ask. But, I think every parent wants to
see their children in that graduation kit.
17
Individualist discourse - happy parents, - my
choice, as I like it,

• Discourse of happy parents and my choice to
  do what I like,
• Students used a discourse/model of individualism
  apparent to position themselves as independent
  decision makers little overt recognition of
  connections/cultural influences (White British)
• Discourse can mask possible unvoiced parental
  and/or other influences on their decision-making
• Discourse of individualism acted to hide social
  differences in White British students
  articulation of the cultural mediation of
  students educational decision-making. Social
  rules were less strongly classified (Bernstein)
  in their discourse, though class differences in
  the content of their talk in relation to the
  cultural mediation of university subject choice
  was sometimes evident, for example, with regard
  to cultural capital, direction, and financial
  support i.e. cultures about the value of
  education are classed
• See also Hernandez-Martinez et al (2008)
  personal satisfaction repertoire.

18

• He his Father just says to me Whatever you do
  Im happy with (Christopher, working class).
• Lisa Um, my Mum, my Dad isnt really too
  bothered. He wants me to do whatever I want. My
  mum didnt really want me to go to university,
  and I dont know why, I just dont think she
  wants me to leave home.
• MP She doesnt want you to leave home? What was
  she telling you?
• Lisa She said wants me to try to get an
  apprentice, you know in what I want to do, but
  you cant really, its quite difficult to find,
  so, I just dont think she wants me to leave
  home.
• Lisa (working class)

19

• Craig (Middle class) They dont mind. They think
  its brilliant, yeah. I mean, going to
  university, my Mum obviously wants me to do that
  and she thinks its a brilliant opportunity and
  stuff and she keeps saying to me stuff like, if
  you want to stay and extra year, you stay an
  extra year.
• PHM Now, about your decision to go into
  Veterinary. What do your parents think about
  that?
• Sarah (Middle class) I think theyre happy for
  me, whatever Im doing. My Mums very good
  shell support me in whatever Im doing. Unless
  its something really ludicrous or a bit silly.
  Theyll really support me with it.
• PHM What would you consider ludicrous?
• Sarah Oh, I dont know. (Indistinct). No, she
  said shell support me in whatever Id choose to
  be honest.
• PHM And your dad?
• Sarah (Indistinct) whatever happens, so.
• IK What do your parents think about your
  choices?
• J I am not too sure.
• IK You havent talked about it?
• J Not really. I have talked to them a bit when I
  wasnt sure whether to try and apply for a
  medicine degree or whether I shouldnt. They
  are happy with the choices I made

20
Existing Literature exploring
individualistic/relational collectivist models
has been widely theorised

• Markus and Kitayama argued that American culture
  emphasizes the core cultural idea of independence
  by valuing attending to oneself and discovering
  and expressing individual qualities while
  neither assuming nor valuing overt
  connectedness. These values are reflected in
  educational and legal systems, employment and
  caretaking practices, and individual cognition,
  emotion and motivation. In contrast they argue
  that Asian culture emphasize interdependence by
  valuing the self and individuality as part of
  social context, connection among persons, and
  attending to and harmoniously coordinating with
  others. cited in Cooper and Denner (1998)
• Kusserow (1999) Eastern - sociocentric, Western -
  individualist selves
• See also Triandis and others
• Grounding theory in the context of our study in
  multicultural Britain at this time in history.

21
The interview data findings

• - Supports Ethnic differences in discourses
  of university subject choice as being culturally
  produced
• - Classification not fixed but
  nevertheless two discourses aligning with White
  and Other groupings
• - Supports existing literature in contrasting
  models Western/Eastern selves/identities
• - Grounds these alternative ways of
  thinking about the self in the context of
  University subject-choice decision-making in
  multi-cultural Britain at this time in history
• - Illuminates the questionnaire analysis.

22
Methodological Implications

• Research Methodology needs to account for the
  unsaid, the unrecognised cultural influences
  that may be invisible to members
• Caution against literal interpretations of
  findings of unawareness
• Development of more sensitive measures, which
  take account of the scope of cultural models used
  by students in their university subject-choice
  decision-making. Further work is needed.

23
University Subject Choice Ethnic differences

• Connect with contemporary literature of
  university degree subject decision-making e.g.
  Reay (1998), Reay et al (2001), Ball et al,
  (2002) Connor (2004), Gorard et al (1999) Archer
• On ethnicity and subject choice e.g. Ahmad
  (2002), Ashworth and Evans (2001), Bhattacharya
  et al (2003)
• On cultural influences e.g. Whiting and Edwards
  (1988), Ball(1999), Chen, Chao (1995,1997)
• etc

24
Comments and Questions?

25
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