Using expectancy-value theory to understand the teaching motivations of women physics lecturers

Abstract

Being lectured by a woman physicist can benefit students’ performance, motivation, and engagement with physics. However, due to the severe underrepresentation of women physics faculty, these instances may be scarce. Through semistructured interviews with seven women physics lecturers, we used expectancy-value theory to understand the situative nature of gender regarding motivation to lecture. We sought to understand their choices and decisions when selecting their teaching roles, and if lecturing, what draws them toward certain courses. Our study was a staff-student partnership project carried out in a physics department at a UK university. We identified themes of confidence, enjoyment, the importance of lecturing, and the associated workload. The academic women could not relate to the “showperson” persona that they felt their men colleagues displayed. They navigated low levels of confidence by adopting a painstaking approach to lecture preparation, suggesting an inherent, higher workload associated with lecturing, compared with other forms of teaching. However, the women highly valued lecturing, enjoying the excitement and interactions with students, and were drawn toward developing students’ knowledge and skills. Being familiar with the content allowed them to feel confident in lecturing. We discuss these findings and recommend areas of support that physics departments should endeavor to offer.