Choosing Physical Science Courses: The Importance of Cultural and Social Capital in the Enrolment Decisions of High Achieving Students

Abstract

This paper reports and discusses findings from a recent study which explored the science enrolment decisions of high achieving, or 'science proficient' secondary level students in Australia (Lyons 2003). The research was prompted by the increasing reluctance of suchstudents to enrol in post-compulsory science courses, particularly in physics and chemistry.The study investigated the influences on students' deliberations about taking a range ofscience courses. However, this report confines itself to decisions about enrolling in thephysical sciences. The paper summarises the students' experiences and conceptions ofschool science, as well as the characteristics of their 'family worlds' found to beinfluential in their decisions¹. The paper discusses the important roles of cultural andsocial capital in these decisions, and concludes that enrolment in physical science courseswas associated with congruence between the students' conceptions of school science, andcharacteristics of their family backgrounds.