Abstract
There has been concern about the attractiveness of science-based careers to many adolescent learners, and it has been suggested that school science may not always recognise or engage personal values that are important to young people in making life choices. The present study discusses interview comments made by upper secondary level students in England when 15 young people were asked to give their personal responses to brief vignettes describing scientific careers. Using an interview-about-scenarios approach, the students were asked about whether they would feel comfortable working in the scientific careers represented. The career areas were purposefully selected because they might be considered to potentially raise issues in relation to personal values or commitments that some students might hold. A range of student perceptions relating to the mooted careers were elicited (positive, negative and indifferent), but all of the participants raised issues that impacted on the acceptability or attractiveness of at least one of the mooted scientific careers, in terms of aspects of their own personal beliefs and values systems. It is recommended that teachers and career advisors should be aware of the range of value-related considerations that influence student views of science-related careers and should consider exploring aspects of science-based careers that link to values commonly shared by young people. This exploratory study also offers indications for directions for further research exploring how learners’ value systems impact upon their perceptions of science and scientific work.
Highlights
Background to the studyThe present study derives from a larger project that had as its primary focus students’ perceptions of the relationship between science and religion
Our participants engaged with the scenarios, and presented a number of views infused by extra-scientific values such as ethical or aesthetic values
Our vignettes could be criticised as having been designed to hint at potential issues, so, for example, conservationists might feel that the reference to culling animals was given undue weight in our vignette
Summary
The present study derives from a larger project that had as its primary focus students’ perceptions of the relationship between science and religion. The Learning about Science and Religion (LASAR) project included a sequence of interviews carried out with students across a range of English secondary schools over a 3-year period. Permissions for carrying out the research had been obtained from the schools, the students, and, where the age of the interviewee indicated, the parents. All students were interviewed in their schools, at a time organised by the school, and in a location provided for that purpose by the school. One of us (FR) interviewed students and included the scenarios, or as many of them as possible, when time allowed. Data were included from 15 students, from across 6 schools
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
