Exploring Year 9 students’ perceptions: influences on decisions to study GCSE art and design
type: CreativeWork
description: 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 v…
abstract: 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 v…
author: Tufnell, Ruth
language: en
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:42:57Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/h5ee-sk21