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Young women’s longitudinal identity negotiations in physics and mathematics throughout upper secondary education

Emilie Gertz*, Lene Møller Madsen, and Henriette Tolstrup Holmegaard

  • *Contact author: eg@ind.ku.dk
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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 22, 010135 – Published 15 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/v6h9-r7by

Abstract

Upper-secondary education has been identified as a critical period for understanding young people’s (non)continuation in physics, as well as their broader trajectories into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This paper illuminates the longitudinal identity negotiations within upper secondary school physics and mathematics by focusing on two students, Kristi and Svea, who embody a paradox: Despite entering upper secondary school with strong science and mathematics identities and pursuing advanced coursework in both disciplines, they consistently refrained from considering futures in STEM. Central to our analysis is the concept of disciplinary and celebrated identities, which we integrate with perspectives from narrative psychology. This study draws on three rounds of semistructured narrative interviews with each student (n=6). The analysis was carried out by applying an in-depth reflexive thematic approach, focusing on how gendered identities and power dynamics shaped the young women’s negotiations within these masculine fields. The analysis showed how the two young women were presented with challenges in (i) aligning their interests and identity work with the disciplines’ norms and practices, and that facing such narrative disturbances was a gendered experience; (ii) bonding with the teachers enabled recognition, even though it involved applying narrow masculine strategies; and (iii) having to submit themselves to a “sink or swim” culture amplified their sense of inadequacy and unfitness for evolving strong disciplinary identities. Our findings show that these factors together discouraged the young women from maintaining sustainable narratives and negotiating positive choice considerations for a future in STEM. From a diversity perspective, our findings illustrate that inclusion is not only about access to participation but also about whose interests and ways of meaning-making are valued and legitimized within disciplinary practices. In doing so, this study advances research on diversity and inclusion in STEM by showing how disciplinary identities are shaped through sedimented practices of recognition over time. The implications call for rethinking participation to embrace and foster gender-inclusive teaching and learning environments, for example, through reforms in teacher training. Finally, we argue for moving away from deficit framings that describe young women as lacking confidence in physics and mathematics. Instead, feelings of not being “clever enough” should be understood as a product of the field itself, shaped by disciplinary practices in school physics and mathematics.

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 22, 010135– Published 15 April, 2026
  • Received 11 September 2025
  • Accepted 3 March 2026
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