“Yes, Biology is for me!”: Raising the Science Capital of Boys

Some male students struggle to see the study of Biology as being relevant to the lives that they lead. If students don’t opt to take Biology at upper post-primary school, then they are excluded from a wide range of pathways to higher education and the possibility of developing a scientific-enhanced transversal skill set that will benefit them in life more generally. This research considers the perceived barriers that males (aged 15-16 years) from marginalised communities in Ireland face, when deciding that Biology is ‘not for them’. Further, it proposes a pedagogical disruption through the introduction of a co-designed (students, teachers, teacher educators, educators, sociologists) module that celebrates the essence of the Science Capital Teaching Approach, in an attempt to enthuse adolescent males’ engagement with Biology. The Science Capital Teaching Approach draws on Bordieu’s work about capital and social reproduction and is a way of teaching that convinces students of the value of science, in this instance biology, in their daily lives. The approach does this by a) personalising and localising the content, b) eliciting young people’s ideas, valuing their contribution, and linking it to the topic, and c) building the science capital dimension (for example that Biology leads to lots of jobs, not just jobs that are traditionally associated with it). This paper opens the conversation around male student intent to study Biology for their final two years of second level education, derived from participant survey results. Further, it outlines subsequent pedagogical pillars to support the proposed intervention, targeting males who are yet to be convinced that ‘Yes, Biology is for me!’.