ABSTRACT
As we have argued elsewhere (cf. Chapter 1 of this volume), aspirations are inextricably bound up in issues of identity and are profoundly shaped by the extent to which individuals can imagine themselves pursuing a particular route. Whether students consider certain jobs as both ‘possible’ and ‘achievable’ is influenced by the images they hold of those career paths and the individuals who pursue them. This chapter argues that the portrayal of scientists as very clever or ‘brainy’, and of science careers as requiring exceptional intelligence, acts as a barrier to many students seeing science as ‘for them’. We argue that this situation is exacerbated by young people’s perceptions of science qualifications as leading to a narrow range of jobs. Moreover, we discuss how this association of science with ‘braininess’ is reinforced by the current organisation of 14-19 science education in England and is inherently racialised, gendered and classed, which may act as a further barrier to young people from underprivileged social groups seeing post-16 science as ‘for them’.
