The Performative Constitution of Identities in Physics Education Research: A Post-Structuralist Perspective Based on the Feminist Political Philosophy of Judith Butler
Creators: name: de Barros Vidor, Carolina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: physics education research
feminist theory
Judith Butler
gender
identity
recognition

description: The fight against gender inequalities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields has received increasing attention worldwide. In the Brazilian context, this has resulted not only in a significant rise in publications on the subject in recent year, but also in the development of educational initiatives aimed at encouraging young women to pursue careers in these fields. However, studies indicate that these publications and initiatives often address gender issues in STEM without explicitly discussing the construct of gender, or fail to provide in-depth and theoretically grounded reflections on the social, educational, and political implications of gender relations within academic-scientific training. In light of these considerations, this thesis adopts a post-structuralist theoretical, conceptual, and methodological perspective to critically analyze both the "gender issues" addressed in the physics education research (PER) literature and the "identity issues" involved in the training of researchers in PER. The thesis builds on the following assumptions: (i) gender is a complex construct and represents only one of the various identity markers; and (ii) identities are discursively constituted in power relations that are not only gendered, but also marked by other subjective characteristics as the individual is inserted or situated within a specific cultural, epistemological, historical, ethnic-racial, socioeconomic, and political context.

The "gender issues" were discussed through a systematic literature review, which included 25 Brazilian studies and 105 international studies addressing gender inequalities in the practice, teaching and learning of physics published over the past decade (2010–2019). Based on a poststructuralist analytical framework (What is the Problem Represented to Be? - WPR as developed by Carol Bacchi and Susan Goodwin), studies were categorized into three analytical categories according to common problem representations and assumptions about gender underlying these studies. The analysis showed that studies in the first analytical category, the participation of women in physics and physics education, restrict the conception of gender to sex-specific issues related to female individuals, thus reducing gender inequalities to “women’s issues”. In these studies, the “problem” is represented as the low number of women pursuing careers related to physics, so the “solution” implies in attracting girls to physics and retaining female academics in their careers. Studies in the second analytical category, gender in the cultures of physics and physics education, assume that gender is a relational construct which constitutes power relations between individuals, who may or may not conform to hetero-cis-normative social expectations. Here, the “problem” is represented as the reproduction of gender discourses and stereotypes within and about the cultures of physics and physics education. The only study in the third analytical category, gender in the knowledge production in physics, assume gender is one of several axes of a complex and dynamic power system that constrains knowledge production in physics, then representing the “problem” as a matter of how theories and practices are perpetuated in the field. In sum, the area of research on gender in physics and physics education is based on implicit assumptions not only about “gender”, but also about “gender diversity”, thus bringing into question the intersection of multiple identity markers. 

The "identity issues" were examined through a critical analysis of interviews conducted with 6 faculty and 18 students affiliated with the Graduate Program in Physics Education Research (PPGENFIS) offered by the Department of Physics of Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. Key concepts from the feminist political philosophy of Judith Butler were integrated into the analysis, showing that identities are discursively constituted through a performative process shaped by power relations that are gendered, racialized, socioeconomically positioned, and historically contingent. Findings were organized into three analytical axes, which allowed for the description and discussion of:

(i) processes of negotiation within the academic-scientific space, which sustain the constitution of PPGENFIS as a "place" where research and the formation of researchers in PER occur;

(ii) processes of (dis)connections between the fields of physics and education, which sustain the constitution of the subfield of PER as an "object" (i.e., something produced and identifiable through discursive practices) and the objects of study inherent to the subfield;

(iii) processes of institutionalized and self-directed formation of researchers in PER, which sustain the relational, racialized, gendered, and socioeconomically positioned aspects that shape the (inter)subjective relations within PPGENFIS.

Results from these three analytical axes allowed for the identification and characterization of norms of recognition that operate performatively within PPGENFIS, as well as the social and material conditions inherently tied to them. This approach highlights that the social existence of individuals within PPGENFIS depends on their subjection (i.e., subordination and subjectivation) to these norms of recognition, summarized as follow:

Norm of Physics: "There is no teaching of physics without physics."The norm of physics establishes as an initial criterion for validating the field of physics education research a close alignment with the content and practices of "hard physics." This norm thus initially defines the "proper object" of the field of physics education research as being bounded by the conditions of physics instruction. From this perspective, a researcher in PER would be someone who seeks a strong connection with the content and practices of "hard physics" while simultaneously distancing themselves from education, which is then reduced to its psychopedagogical dimension.

Norm of Idealization: "One must have a strong desire to learn physics."The norm of idealization articulates the normative ideals of the "disembodied subject" and the "stereotypical physicist" in order to impose unattainable criteria for social recognition on those who wish to "do physics" and "be a physicist." On the one hand, the normative ideal of the "disembodied subject" implies that social recognition is granted to individuals whose bodies are supposedly invisible, meaning those who conform to social norms that favor the subject who is male, white, and hetero-cis-normative. On the other hand, the normative ideal of the "stereotypical physicist" demands that this male, white, hetero-cis-normative subject be someone who can disregard the contexts in which knowledge production in physics occurs, besides ignoring the potential social applications of that knowledge. This suggests that the "stereotypical physicist" should not have to concern himself with his own livelihood (implying that the individual is in a highly privileged socioeconomic position) and that his modes of action and thought are defined by specific epistemological frameworks.

Norm of Autonomy: "Everyone knows what they have to do."The norm of autonomy imposes on individuals a vision of subjective agency that is fundamentally based on personal responsibility and tacit knowledge about "what to do" and "how to do it." In this context, individuals must be capable of adequately interpreting the implicit social expectations in order to meet them, thus guiding their subjective agency through the reproduction of embodied modes of action and the dynamics of social relations that preceded them. Since the demands to be fulfilled by students enrolled in the graduate program are implicit, the criteria for evaluating the fulfillment of these demands are also implicit. Despite being dependent on social regulations that determine "what to do" and "how to do it", individuals typically attribute their difficulties in navigating such social system to themselves, often attributing it to their supposed "inability," "lack of motivation," or lack of "willpower." Furthermore, the norm of autonomy works in articulation with the norm of excellence to be translated into an internalized norm of subjectivation, affecting the value judgments that both teachers and students make about themselves. As a result, individuals are constantly confronted with the perception of "not being good enough" and "not producing enough."

Norm of Excellence: "Be the best you can possibly be."The norm of excellence requires that teachers and students conform to standards of academic productivity defined by national scientific policies. As a result, individuals are subjected to a process of dehumanization due to the constant demand for production (i.e. publishing papers) according to unattainable excellence standards. Teaching activities that cannot be directly measured as "productive" (such as mentoring, supervision and teaching) are undervalued. The competition for academic excellence fosters a certain rivalry, manifesting among faculty in the disputes between different research groups and among students through the encouragement of competition for publications.

Racial Norms: "There are no Black people in physics."The racial norms operating at PPGENFIS are also reproduced at university level, mirroing larger cultural dynamics that reflect the process of racialization of individuals in the region of Rio Grande do Sul (where the term "White" is understood as synonymous with "European descent"). These norms reinforce the constitution of a White racial identity that becomes invisible as it is socially constructed based on privileges and prejudices against the non-White population (Black and Indigenous). Most White individuals at PPGENFIS demonstrate a significant difficulty in naming the privileges and social advantages they enjoy due to their White racial identities. This contributes to the perpetuation of the myths of meritocracy ("one only needs to make an effort to succeed") and racial democracy ("there is no racism in Brazil because all races coexist well together") that are well-spread in Brazilian society. These myths work together to sustain the meritocratic ideal based on the assumption that physics should constitute an "intellectual elite." Non-White individuals, on the other hand, when subjected to the racial normative frameworks operating at PPGENFIS, internalize a supposed racial invisibility, which translates into difficulty recognizing the social disadvantages stemming from their minority racial identity within the field of physics. In this context, there is a silencing of racial relations at departmental and institutional levels through discursive strategies that primarily reduce social inequalities to economic inequalities. Consequently, White individuals tend to attribute the small proportion of Black individuals in the Department of Physics solely to Black students' lack of adequate background in physics. It is well know the fact that the majority of Black population in Brazil has a low socioeconomic background and therefore most likely have access to the free education provided by public schools. According to this, White individuals argue that Black students would face difficulties in accessing university physics programs due to the deficient basic education in physics provided by public schools. Contradicting such an explanation, the analysis shows that the majority of spots in university physics programs reserved through affirmative actions to students from public schools are occupied by White students.

Gender Norms: "Situations of... I don't know what the word is."The Department of Physics is shown to be a conservative environment where the power dynamics shaping institutionalized gender relations are rendered invisible. As a result, there is a mistaken perception that there is no exclusion or discrimination against women in physics. Individuals argued that sexism used to be expressed more frequently and explicitly in the past, but that it became less frequent and it is manifested only implicitly or subtly in the present. However, according to the accounts shared during interviews, dynamics of discrediting women are reproduced daily at the Department of Physics, perpetuating the idea that "women are not as capable as men" in physics. Additionally, individuals reported situations where female students had been victims of moral or sexual harassment by peers and/or faculty members, either during activities carried out within the Department of Physics or during academic events outside the institution. Therefore, the analysis shows that individuals are reluctant or find it difficult to identify and name sexist or misogynistic situations as moral or sexual harassment against women.  Gender norms also support the mistaken perception that there are "many more women" in PER compared to the number of women in "hard physics". According to a statistical analysis, the proportion of women in both areas can be considered virtually the same within the Department of Physics. Three factors seem to contribute to this mistaken perception: (i) the high visibility given to a few female researchers in the field of PER; (ii) the belief that gender stereotypes might somehow be favoring women in PER; and (iii) the fact that the objects of study in PER are socially oriented. Together, these three factors sustain the unfounded belief that "physics is sexist, but physics education research is not." This situation reveals a lack of critical awareness (stemming from the absence of debate) regarding the reproduction of gender norms, discrimination, and various forms of gender-based violence within the context of PER. It also exposes faculty's lack of capacity to assess and address such situations.