eprintid: 1468448
rev_number: 30
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/01/46/84/48
datestamp: 2015-09-16 15:01:14
lastmod: 2021-09-20 00:33:44
status_changed: 2015-09-16 15:01:14
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
item_issues_count: 0
creators_name: Dawson, E
title: "Not Designed for Us": How Science Museums and Science Centers Socially Exclude Low-Income, Minority Ethnic Groups.
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B04
divisions: C06
divisions: F58
note: © 2014 The Authors Science Education Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
abstract: This paper explores how people from low-income, minority ethnic groups perceive and experience exclusion from informal science education (ISE) institutions, such as museums and science centers. Drawing on qualitative data from four focus groups, 32 interviews, four accompanied visits to ISE institutions, and field notes, this paper presents an analysis of exclusion from science learning opportunities during visits alongside participants' attitudes, expectations, and conclusions about participation in ISE. Participants came from four community groups in central London: a Sierra Leonean group (n = 21), a Latin American group (n = 18), a Somali group (n = 6), and an Asian group (n = 13). Using a theoretical framework based on the work of Bourdieu, the analysis suggests ISE practices were grounded in expectations about visitors' scientific knowledge, language skills, and finances in ways that were problematic for participants and excluded them from science learning opportunities. It is argued that ISE practices reinforced participants preexisting sense that museums and science centers were "not for us." The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings in relation to previous research on participation in ISE and the potential for developing more inclusive informal science learning opportunities.
date: 2014-11
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sce.21133
vfaculties: VMPS
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
article_type_text: JOURNAL ARTICLE
verified: verified_manual
elements_source: PubMed
elements_id: 1002911
doi: 10.1002/sce.21133
language_elements: ENG
lyricists_name: Dawson, Emily
lyricists_id: EADAW98
full_text_status: public
publication: Science  Education
volume: 98
number: 6
pagerange: 981-1008
issn: 0036-8326
citation:        Dawson, E;      (2014)    "Not Designed for Us": How Science Museums and Science Centers Socially Exclude Low-Income, Minority Ethnic Groups.                   Science Education , 98  (6)   pp. 981-1008.    10.1002/sce.21133 <https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21133>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1468448/1/Dawson%2C%20E.%20Not%20designed%20for%20us%20.pdf