Using habitus as a tool: exploring the
narratives of computer science
students
IPSE Seminar
Peter Chalk EdD
29.4.13
apr 28a
1
Can Bourdieu's concept of habitus
provide a useful tool for analysing
early life history interview data?
• This talk focuses on one aspect of my EdD
research into computer science education and
the problem of its high rate of student failure
and drop-out. It will suggest how their
emerging 'computer science habitus' is
constructed, using a case study method, and
what influences, experiences and preferences
have affected its development
apr 28a
2
The importance of family influence
• In particular, it will examine the influence of
the family - using an approach similar to that
of Louise Archer's work on science education
and the importance of family influence.
apr 28a
3
Issues in computer science education
• Why (in the West) has their been a long
history of failure and drop-out?
• Are students not prepared?
– ICT vs. Computer Science curriculum in schools
– ACM, Schmitt, Gove...
• Why make wrong choice?
– Expectation (money, job)
– Image (cool to be geek? Steve jobs effect)
apr 28a
4
Why do some students seem so well
prepared ‘like fish in water’?
• Led me to explore concept of ‘Computer
Science Habitus’
• Based on theoretical framework of Bourdieu
– Habitus and capital
– Field, practice, doxa (‘rules of the game’)...
• And recent work of Archer on family influence
in science education, ‘family habitus’ - with
reservations
apr 28a
5
Bourdieu’s work on habitus
• Most well known for class habitus and cultural
capital, reproduced through family and school:
– E.g. habitus as ‘dispositions’ or “a set of historical
relations ‘deposited’ within individual bodies in
the form of mental and corporeal schemata of
perception, appreciation, and action” (Bourdieu
and Wacquant 1992, p16).
apr 28a
6
Bourdieu on forms of capital
• Bourdieu also discussed forms of (cultural)
capital:
– Symbolic capital as a ‘reputation for competence’
(Bourdieu, 1979, p291) – this is very important in
computer science (in my data)
– Cultural capital in the form of ‘scientific capital’
p82)
• And other ‘modes of generation’, e.g.
autodidactism (p83) – again, very important in
computer science (in my data)
apr 28a
7
Types of habitus
• Some talk of institutional or family habitus
(Reay, David and Ball, 2001, and Archer et al
2012) – contested by Atkinson, more later...
• Others of ‘subject habitus’ (as educational
sub-field).
• ‘Computer science habitus’ (Me) – is it useful?
What is it? How does it develop?
apr 28a
8
Examples of subject habitus research
• ‘“Mathematics habitus”, was such that for her “maths is fab” and the
practices of the new field, in turn, supported that habitus’
(Hernandez-Martinez and Williams, 2013, p15, on resilience of
working class children coping with transition to HE STEM)
• “Women need to fit the engineering habitus – an assertive
masculine habitus”(Campbell, 2010, p261, in PhD research study into
gender issue)
• “The move into the universities of inculcation of a design habitus is
more problematic for students must learn to take things for granted
and this is another area for further research” (Kennedy, 2002, p228,
a PhD study into what makes for successful designers)
• Scientific habitus: ‘practical sense of the problems [and] appropriate
ways of dealing with them’ (Bourdieu 2004, p38)
apr 28a
9
Archer’s 2012 research on children’s
engagement with science
• Used concept of ‘family habitus’ to identify 3
‘broadly classed patterns of family
relationships with science’:
1. Middle class family with ‘science-specific
capital’: result was particularly powerful
2. Without such capital, ‘generic resources’ used to
develop child’s interest (especially in some ethic
groups)
3. Working class without capital, ‘interest pursued
individually’ (generally, some other cases)
apr 28a
10
Does my data from CS student
interviews fit this approach?
• 3 case studies chosen from the 20 which most
closely resemble Archer et al’s (2012, p903).
• All demonstrate importance of family influence,
but this is usually a specific person at a certain
moment, in a certain context, sparking an interest
then pursued in individualistic ways.
• But not ‘pastimes, leisure, TV, books,
conversation, social networks’ in ‘everyday family
life’ (Archer et al, 2012, p888)
apr 28a
11
Case Study 1 - Marios
• Middle class family with computer science capital
• Russell Group pre-1992 HEI, doing MEng (AAA*
equivalent including maths and Informatics),
father programmer, mother informatics teacher,
both at uni
• “my dad taught me how to use windows and stuff
[and was] a big influence... [My mother] played
games with me at christmas”
• But no mention of ‘everyday’ engagement with
computer science in sense of Archer et al (2012)?
apr 28a
12
Case Study 2 - Paul
• Middle class family without computer science
capital
• Russell Group pre-1992 HEI, doing MEng (AAA*
equivalent including maths and Informatics),
father dentist, mother school psychologist, both
at uni – pastimes classical piano, chess
• ‘there was no-one into computing in my family’
• Paul attributes interest to a friend at age 12
apr 28a
13
Case Study 3 - Denise
• Post-1992 HEI with NVQ in Car Mechanics,
mature single mum from council estate,
neither parent at uni (builder/ housewife)
• Granddad ‘inventor’ and very influential, led
to job in car mechanics and growing interest in
computers
• Self-taught (autodidact) and aspiration for
recognition of competence (Bourdieu’s
symbolic capital)
apr 28a
14
Does concept of family habitus add to
existing categories?
• Atkinson (2011) contests concept ‘family habitus’ as
habitus is individualist – although Marios’s family
certainly possessed ‘computer science capital’ in
abundance
• And looking at Archer et al’s caveats:
– ‘our analysis also highlighted the nondeterministic nature
of habitus’ (Archer et al, 2012, p904)
– citing ‘children going against the grain’ (Reay et al, 2010)
– Also using construct ‘interplay of family capital and
habitus’
• All suggest problems with concept of ‘family habitus’ –
better to use ‘family influence’ (alongside others)?
apr 28a
15
Other examples of family influence in my data
• Matt’s grandfather “is quite into hardware stuff, he’s an
electrician, and I got some stuff from him”
• Asif “just watched my brother, that’s the way I learnt it”
• Bruce [in Africa] “had a little brother actually, who came from
the States and he was, like, teaching me”
• Charles’s “father teaches design and technology so he’s been
an influence... nobody else”
• Following mention of family influence, frequent responses:
• Rupert “bought a book and I started doing examples”
• And one student Alon explicitly stated that he had no
influences within the family, although his mother is an
engineer, so influence may not be apparent!
apr 29
16
Games and puzzles
• Very common response in my data was family influence
through pastimes, especially chess (which may help to form a
‘problem-solving’ disposition in computer science habitus):
• Niraj’s “dad used to bring me loads of puzzles”
• Sarthi played “Board games, I learnt chess, and apart from
that, any word game”
• Saru “was into puzzles like riddles”
• Alicia “used to play Mario, [and] other computer games”
• Odd one out, Margaret “My mother studied history at
university maybe why I loved history. My father studied music
at university”. Another ‘Archer Type 2’ (cultural capital, with
no computer science capital).
apr 28a
17
Computer science habitus influences
• Bourdieu on class habitus focussed on
influence (role) of family and school
– And discussed others, eg autodidactism
• Research has identified other influences:
– Peers (shared interests with friends)
– Media (geek as cool)
• Habitus property of individual, but also
classed/ gendered/ etc with multiple
dispositions?
apr 28a
18
Conclusions
• Is Bourdieu’s framework a useful approach to
understanding why some students succeed,
others fail, and how they come to study
computer science?
• It seems to have a certain coherence, especially
when including other concepts like field, practice
and doxa
• Identifying how to develop a successful subject
habitus may address under-representation,
under-performance & field/ practice problems
apr 28a
19
References
• Archer, L, DeWitt, J, Osborne, J, Dillon, J, Willis, B
& Wong, B (2012) ‘Science aspirations, capital,
and family habitus : how families shape children’s
engagement and identification with science’,
American Educational Research Journal, 49:5,
881-908.
• Atkinson, W (2011) ‘From sociological fictions to
social fictions: some Bourdieusian reflections on
the concepts of ‘institutional habitus’ and ‘family
habitus’’, British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 32:3, 331-347.
apr 28a
20
• Bourdieu, P (1979) Distinction: A social
critique of the judgement of taste, London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul (h/b translation
1984).
• Bourdieu, P (2004). Science of Science and
Reflexivity. Translated by R. Nice. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
• Bourdieu, P and Wacquant, L (1992) An
Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
apr 28a
21
• Campbell, R G (2010) Professional Identity,
Commitment and Gender in Engineering:
Exploring the (mis)match between
dispositions and cultures. PhD Thesis,
University of Alberta.
• Hernandez-Martinez, P. and J. Williams. (2013)
Against the odds: resilience in mathematics
students in transition. British Educational
Research Journal, online. DOI:
10.1080/01411926.2011.623153.
apr 28a
22
• Kennedy, P (2002) Design Practice: Routine
Creativity. PhD Thesis, University of Glasgow.
• Reay, D, David, M and Ball, S (2001) ‘Making a
difference?: Institutional habituses and higher
educational choice’. Sociological Research
Online 5: 4.
www.socresonline.org.uk/5/4/reay.html.
apr 28a
23