Altunbas, Havva Gorkem; (2025) The Impact of Sociocultural Factors on Immigrant Turkish Students' Attitudes Towards Science in England. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College Lodnon).

Text Altunbas_10219133_Thesis.pdf Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 January 2027. Download (5MB)

Abstract

Global frameworks such as UNESCO’s Education 2030 Agenda (SDG 4) and the OECD's Future of Education and Skills 2030 emphasise inclusive and equitable education systems that provide students with essential skills, including scientific literacy. Understanding how sociocultural factors influence science engagement is key to designing educational practices that ensure equity. However, while extensive research has examined how social class, gender and ethnicity influence science engagement (e.g., Archer et al., 2012; Moote et al., 2020), there remains limited research on specific immigrant groups, such as Turkish students in England. This study explores the attitudes of immigrant Turkish students in England towards science education, focusing on how their sociocultural backgrounds relate to these attitudes. By combining Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory with Bourdieu's frameworks of social and cultural capital, this study provides an in-depth understanding of immigrant students' attitudes towards science. A mixed-methods approach, combining surveys and semi-structured interviews with students and parents, investigated how sociocultural factors and perceived autonomy support associate with attitudes towards science. The findings emphasise the crucial role of family support in promoting positive attitudes, with students who feel supported at home and by teachers demonstrating strong connections to science. Students with high cultural capital—operationalised through language proficiency, peer networks, parental support, familiarity with educational norms, extracurricular opportunities and access to educational resources—tend to develop positive attitudes towards science. Students with fewer opportunities to engage with these resources find it more challenging to connect with science education. This study addresses a gap by examining how immigrant status and sociocultural context relate to Turkish students' science engagement. While research exists on immigrant students' educational experiences (e.g., Suárez-Orozco et al., 2010), limited work focuses on immigrant Turkish students in the UK (Kolancali & Melhuish, 2023), particularly concerning science attitudes (Gokpinar & Reiss, 2016). The study offers recommendations for developing inclusive educational practices that support immigrant students' science engagement.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVJSONXML

Archive Staff Only

View Item