Margaret Eisenhart | University of Colorado, Boulder (original) (raw)

Papers by Margaret Eisenhart

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, Apr 26, 2019

The traditions of ethnography and participatory action research (PAR) have different roots and di... more The traditions of ethnography and participatory action research (PAR) have different roots and different priorities, but their trajectories have become entangled in educational research over the past halfcentury. In many ways, ethnography and PAR are compatible. Both make participants’ perspectives central to the research. Both rely primarily on qualitative methods. Both are ethically committed to appreciating cultural differences and promoting the welfare of the groups they work with. Taken together, each adds something important to the other: PAR offers ethnography a “stance toward research” that is more democratic and action-oriented than traditional ethnography; ethnography lends PAR legitimacy as a research approach. Nonetheless, differences between the two create contradictions and tensions when they are combined. While educational researchers remain enthusiastic about the potential of combining activism with cultural analysis, it is important not to collapse ethnography and participatory action research, or privilege one over the other, but to find productive ways to move forward with the tensions between them.

Contemporary Sociology, Sep 1, 1999

When is a "fringe science" not a fringe science? The answer may depend less on the longevity or e... more When is a "fringe science" not a fringe science? The answer may depend less on the longevity or even the pedigree of ideas than it does on the general popularity and the usefulness of those ideas to professional scientists. Many historians [e.g., W. F. Bynum and Roy Porter] have recently pointed to the vague borders between "fringe" and "orthodoxy" in the development of medical sciences, while others [e.g., Graham Richards, 1992] have recorded some of the false starts in the evolution of psychology. The "march of the intellect" has always encompassed some quackery and a number of cranks, and the historian has always faced risks in deciding what was truly central and what was marginal in the scientific beliefs of any period. As Alison Winter reminds us in Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian Britain, the malleable [if not confused] definitions of science and scientific procedures persisted well into the nineteenth century. The carefully demarcated academic disciplines, the professional journals and societies, the updated education and laboratories, the acceptance of professional and governmental regulations-these features of modern science become significant only after 1815. Until the new structures were firmly in place [Winter suggests 1870 as the effective time for this], almost anyone could participate in scientific enquiry, including phrenologists, clairvoyants, and mesmerists. In this golden age of pseudo-science, mesmerism had a special place because it was enormously popular and had an apparent potential for solving age-old puzzles about the mind and the relationship of the mind with external physical forces. And, as Winter properly notes, mesmerism flourished in the almost unique [if transitory] context of experiments with ether, opium, and electricity and as an integral part of the contemporary literature of dreams, spiritualism, and human progress [26, 33, 38]. The story of Victorian mesmerism is essentially one of debate and controversy, support and hostility. Winter succeeds in showing how disruptive the claims of "animal magnetism" really were, both for the men of science and the public at large. Of course it was possible, at least initially, to dismiss mesmerism as phrenology was dismissed, viz., as a foreign import; it was also condemned as a home-grown, late Regency form of "decadence and lascivious quackery" [41]. But committees of medical scientists could not always agree about mesmerism, and not a few medicos followed the example of Dr. John Elliotson, the flamboyant champion of medical reform and innovation, who popularized the stethoscope and used mesmerism to gain information and compliance from his patients. Mesmerists were probably most provocative when they combined the notions of mesmerism with those of clairvoyancy, although there was never any shortage of famous persons [Dickens, Cruikshank, and Archbishop Whately among them], who accepted the "magic" of mesmerism as a valid key to understanding human behavior. And what did the controversial demonstrations of mesmerism involve? Winter provides us with several intriguing accounts, commendably presented with tongue in cheek. These stories are successful not only for recapturing the Victorians' sense of magic, but also for making empirical use of long-neglected historical materials.

BRILL eBooks, 2005

ABSTRACT

American Educational Research Journal, 1992

We studied schoolboys aged 7, 10, 12, and 17 years from England and Argentina in an attempt to ex... more We studied schoolboys aged 7, 10, 12, and 17 years from England and Argentina in an attempt to explore the “social representations” attached to an “English” or “Argentine” national identity. In both countries, such social representations were characterized by geographical, demographical, and ideological dimensions, with differential emphasis placed on each dimension by the Argentines relative to their English counterparts. These differences were then reflected in the way English and Argentines perceived the Falklands/Malvinas conflict, as well as how they learned territorial concepts of their country. Our research was framed by social identity/social representation theory. The theory posits that individuals belong to many different social groups, and because they identify and categorize themselves in terms of a specific group, a ‘‘social identity” evolves. Beyond simple group membership, a social identity evokes a corresponding social representation that contains the beliefs, values, and “facts” about the group that are recognized by all those who identify with the group. When thinking in terms of a specific identity, the associated social representation serves to mediate and channel the content of what is learned, that is, the meaning of the identity. When individuals categorize themselves as members of a particular country, a “national identity” is formed. This national identity, in turn, evokes an associated social representation that gives meanings, values, and beliefs to the national identity. When thinking in terms of a national identity, the associated shared social representation mediates the way subsequent knowledge is acquired about one’s country. Our findings suggest the potential of socially oriented theoretical frameworks for future research on political socialization. In particular, they point to the critical role played by social identities and social representations in the acquisition of knowledge.

Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Sep 1, 1984

Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 2015

In the literature on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) diversity, women an... more In the literature on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) diversity, women and minorities typically are treated as distinct groups. However, this approach is challenged by nearly two decades of scholarship on "intersectionality," i.e., the idea that social categories and markers of difference and identity-such as gender, race, ethnicity, and class-never operate independently of each other. In this paper, we discuss the cases of three high school women, who demonstrated varied forms of commitment to engineering as they participated in a three-year, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project, Female Recruits Explore Engineering (FREE). We introduce the young women, describe salient aspects of their career exploration experiences during high school, and apply an intersectional framework to their cases. The analysis illuminates how influential social factors and identity markers intertwine to affect the girls' commitment to the academic and career choice of engineering. We demonstrate how the interconnections of gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors influence perceptions and decisions about whether to pursue engineering in college. EY WORDSS: K young women in STEM exploration of engineering gender, race and class, girls' interest in engineering intersectionality

Examines issues in doing interpretive reviews; two responses follow

Discusses general questions related to standards for research quality and rigor in educational st... more Discusses general questions related to standards for research quality and rigor in educational studies: deference to experts in method, focus on an educational issue, applicability to both qualitative and quantitative approaches, be driven by the research question used correctly, cohere with theory

Identifies contemporary muddles and changing concepts in ethnographic research, including new mea... more Identifies contemporary muddles and changing concepts in ethnographic research, including new meanings of culture (cultural productions, funds of knowledge, collective representations, public symbols) and new methods (multi-site, connections among sites, ways to portray both shared and different experiences, ways to address ethical dilemmas)

Anthropologica, 1992

... were actively engaged with those internal divisions and factions within the peer community th... more ... were actively engaged with those internal divisions and factions within the peer community that struggled ... of Linda and Paula and the other women in our study, through college into adulthood ... fettered by the taken-for-granted meanings that they bring to their projects and impose ...

Girls and women, especially if they are people of color, supposedly do not like computer technolo... more Girls and women, especially if they are people of color, supposedly do not like computer technology or science. Myriad reports and studies document their limited interest and participation in these fields, both in school and at work. This article reports some preliminary results from an after-school intervention intended to increase urban, African-American middle school girls' interest and participation in computer technology and science. The intervention program was designed by university researchers, community developers, and local residents to correspond to state curriculum content standards and to be flexible enough to accommodate the girls' own interests and values. Participant observation and interview data about the course of the intervention and the girls' responses to it were collected and analyzed for the 2000-2001 school year. Using semantic domain analysis and case examples, the authors illustrate the kinds of technological activities these girls wanted to pursue and some of the ways they appropriated school-based technology and science to contribute to "third spaces" of productive hybridity (after Bhabha 1994; Moje et al. 2004) in which they were motivated to develop and display new skills and competencies.

Comment on this Field Report Girls and women, especially if they are people of color, supposedly ... more Comment on this Field Report Girls and women, especially if they are people of color, supposedly do not like computer technology or science. Myriad reports and studies document their limited interest and participation in these fields, both in school and at work. This article reports some preliminary results from an after-school intervention intended to increase urban, African-American middle school girls ’ interest and participation in computer technology and science. The intervention program was designed by university researchers, community developers, and local residents to correspond to state curriculum content standards and to be flexible enough to accommodate the girls ’ own interests and values. Participant observation and interview data about the course of the intervention and the girls ’ responses to it were collected and analyzed for the 2000-2001 school year. Using semantic domain analysis and case examples, the authors illustrate the kinds of technological activities thes...

Manuscript ID: ADV-00056-2007 Manuscript Type: Meeting Reports Date Submitted by the Author:15-Ju... more Manuscript ID: ADV-00056-2007 Manuscript Type: Meeting Reports Date Submitted by the Author:15-Jul-2007 Complete List of Authors: Goodman, Barbara; University of South Dakota, School of Medicine, Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences Eisenhart, Margaret; University of Colorado, School of Education DeHaan, Robert; Emory University, Division of Educational Studies Kemm, Robert; University of Melbourne, Physiology Department Rodenbaugh, David; Minnesota State University, Biosciences Pelaez, Nancy; California State University Fullerton, Biological Sciences Key Words: quantitative, qualitative, educational research

Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 2023

Based on seven years of longitudinal, qualitative data on high school-to-college pathways of high... more Based on seven years of longitudinal, qualitative data on high school-to-college pathways of high-achieving young women (n = 57)-many of whom were women of color from low-income families and all of whom expressed interest in engineering-we examine the economic, social, and cultural capital that affected their persistence in engineering, and we introduce the concept of "engineering capital." In this article, we focus on seven of these young women to examine how positioning in the hierarchy of U.S. society affected their ability to access, accumulate, and activate engineering-related capital in pursuit of college engineering and how relevant institutions responded to the women's efforts. We conclude that the coordination of capital, identity formation, and stamina necessary to pursue engineering is extremely difficult without the benefit of a highly privileged set of circumstances.

This is an electronic version of an article published in Teachers College Record. Complete citati... more This is an electronic version of an article published in Teachers College Record. Complete citation information for the final version of the paper, as published in the print edition of Teachers College Record, is available on the Blackwell Synergy online delivery service, accessible via the journal’s website at

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 2019

The Mixed Methods Working Group (MMWG) included senior-level scholars and funders who use or supp... more The Mixed Methods Working Group (MMWG) included senior-level scholars and funders who use or support the use of multiple methods in education research. The group was convened to discuss guidelines for mixed-methods research that addresses broad and enduring educational problems in an increasingly diverse and unequal society by capitalizing on the complementary strengths of different methods.