Abstract
This chapter presents narrative accounts of the strategies and tactics used by successful women in physics. The cross-case analysis of these academic women’s trajectories demonstrates the salience of three significant experiences, and concurrent identity negotiations that facilitated their persistence in physics: (1) reliance on the self, (2) social support networks, and (3) the construction of a working class hero identity. This work presents suggestions for recruitment and retention of women in physics.
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The Russell Group Universities are a collective of 24 public research universities in the UK, arguably regarded as the best universities in the UK (https://russellgroup.ac.uk)
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Miller-Friedmann, J. (2020). Elite British Female Physicists: Social Mobility and Identity Negotiations. In: Gonsalves, A.J., Danielsson, A.T. (eds) Physics Education and Gender. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41933-2_9
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