Exploring Year 9 students’ perceptions: influences on decisions to study GCSE art and design
National examination entry evidence shows that there are almost twice as many girls as boys taking art at GCSE level, making this one of a number of subjects where there is a significant gender imbalance at KS4. Such gender imbalances in certain subjects have implications at both an individual level and societal level. The focus of this research is therefore to explore both boys’ and girls’ views on art and their motivations towards studying art as they make decisions about examination courses beyond KS3. It also considers the extent to which a wider range of influences beyond school could affect student decision making about examination course choice. It is specifically centred on questions exploring why and what is making the difference between boys’ and girls’ choices to pursue art at 13–14 years of age and how these can influence their decision to study the subject at GCSE level. In terms of research methods, a convergent parallel multi methods design was selected to gather a mixed of both qualitative and quantitative data in response to the research questions. These included: what do 13–14-year-old students, about to decide their GCSE options, emphasize when they represent their view of art and artists as a hand-drawn image; what factors appear to influence the students’ decisions to continue studying art at GCSE; how much do 13–14-year-old students appear to value art studies and why; how do 13–14-year-old students self-report views of their ability and effort required to do well in art? Responses to a drawing activity and questionnaire, designed to elicit their thoughts and values towards art, were collated and analysed from a small group of 40 Year 9 students aged 13–14 from three secondary schools in the Southeast of England. The drawing activity and questionnaire were undertaken at a time when the students were actively considering their GCSE course choices. The elicited data was then explored through a Bourdieusian lens and in conjunction with a revised version of Eccles’ expectancy-value model of achievement motivation (1995). It was then analysed to consider whether and how there may be differences in perspectives between boys and girls on their desire to study GCSE art. Students’ self-assessment of their ability and success in art was also explored through the student responses together with their perception of the subject’s value and whether the effort they invested in artistic study and practice was deemed useful and/or enjoyable. The two approaches to eliciting data, both confirmatory and exploratory, were then considered during the data analysis and interpretation phase. Parental influences, peer pressure, societal norms, and the effects of students’ own self-perception of their ability as well as their habitus, field, and cultural capital all appeared to be evident in the findings and these informed some noticeable differences in behaviour and thinking. In particular, the findings indicated that boys’ and girls’ views differed considerably and that these influences had a persuasive and noticeable impact on the boys’ decision to study GCSE art. Furthermore, the adapted expectancy-value model suggested that self-reported differences in the students’ subject expectations and values underlie differences in motivation and achievement in art. This study is relevant as, with fewer boys choosing to study art at GCSE and beyond, there is a risk that this may, over time, limit opportunities for them particularly in the creative industries. It may also limit boys from realising their full potential and restrict their appreciation of art, impoverishing both them and society generally. The research could also be used to inform strategies for establishing a more gender balanced future for a number of subjects at KS4 in English secondary schools. Recommendations specifically for art teachers and schools concerned with the low uptake of art GCSE by boys are described and outlined. However, the methodological approach, combining a drawing activity and a questionnaire with the expectancy-value model, could be adopted by teachers, policy makers, and future researchers across a range of subjects.
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