Promoting Girls in Science - A Longitudinal Study of Self-Concept in Profile Classes

Abstract

Previous studies show that girls have a lower scientific self-concept than boys. Since interest starts declining over the course of lower secondary school, this exacerbates the issue that fewer girls aspire to choose a scientific profession. In this article, we present the concept of scientific profile classes. Profile classes pursue the goal of promoting girls by way of supporting their scientific self-concept. A longitudinal study was conducted to examine the self-concept of students in profile classes (Sample I N=53; Sample II N=54). The development of girls in profile classes was compared to both boys in profile classes and girls in the regular classes. Our results show that there is no gender difference in self-concept between girls and boys in the profile class. This study provides initial indications of how girls in profile classes develop in terms of their self-concept.