Preliminary evidence for available roles in mixed-gender and all-women lab groups

TL;DR

This study investigates role distribution among male and female students in mixed-gender and all-women physics lab groups at a Danish university, revealing similarities and differences in task division and time spent on activities.

Contribution

It provides novel insights into gendered role allocation in physics labs within a majority-female class, contrasting with prior North American studies.

Findings

Mixed-gender groups divide tasks similarly to North American groups.

Women in single-gender groups take on all roles equally.

Women in single-gender groups spend more time on equipment.

Abstract

Group work during lab instruction can be a source of inequity between male and female students. In this preliminary study, we explored the activities male and female students take on during a lab session at a university in Denmark. Different from many studies, the class was majority-female, so three of the seven groups were all female and the rest were mixed-gender. We found that students in mixed-gender groups divide tasks in similar ways to mixed-gender groups at North American institutions, with men handling the equipment and women handling the computer more often. We also found that women in single-gender groups took on each of the available roles with approximately equal frequency, but women in single-gender groups spent more time on the equipment than students in mixed-gender groups. We interpret the results through poststructual gender theory and the notion of `doing physics' and `doing gender' in physics labs.