This unit has moved from an initial concern with the possible nature of feminist questions and methods to an acknowledgement that contemporary feminist research is complex, highly reflexive and recognises the plurality of feminisms rather than attempting a singular analysis of experiences. No longer can we suggest that there are specific feminist methods or even methodologies, rather we need to acknowledge feminisms as impacting on epistemological and ontological positions which inform methodological approaches and choice of methods. Future research agendas need to continue to explore what is distinctive about feminist research from non-feminist research and need to persist in the ongoing task of challenging and disturbing those taken-for-granted notions which are inherently embedded in discourses of power.
The unit has also considered the contribution feminist research has made to the field of education. This body of research has, amongst other things, raised significant questions about how masculinities and femininities are constructed and performed in schools and has explored the relationship between gender and educational attainment. The case study of Dr Jackson’s research has illustrated the importance of applying feminist theoretical lenses to work in schools in order to identify how inequality is inscribed in pedagogy and curricula.
Finally, the unit has raised a number of issues that, due to space limitations, need further analysis. You are directed below to a range of further reading if you wish to pursue these issues in greater detail.
Alvesson, M. and Skoldberg, K. (2000) Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research, London: Sage.
Bakhtin, M. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination Ed. M. Holquist, Trans. Emerson, C. and Holquist, M. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Boone , J. A.(1990) Of Me(n) and Feminism in J.Boone and M.Cadden (eds.) Engendering men, The Question of Male Feminist Criticism, London: Routledge
Collins, P.H. (1990) Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall.
Connell, W. (1995) Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity,
Harding, S. (1987) Feminism and Methodology, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Jackson, C. (2002) ‘Laddishness’ as a self-worth protection strategy. Gender and Education. Vol. 14, Issue 1, pp 37-51.
Jackson, C. (2006) ‘Wild’ girls? An exploration of ‘laddette’ cultures in secondary schools. Gender and Education, Vol. 18, 4, pp339-360.
Lather, P. (2006) (Post) Feminist Methodology: Getting lost OR a scientificity we can bear to learn from. Paperpresented at the ESRC Research Methods Festival, Oxford, July 2006
Lather, P (1992) Critical Frames in Educational Research: Feminist and Post-structural perspectives, Theory into Practice, 31, 2, pp87-106.
Lincoln, Y.S. (1997) Self, subject, audience, text: Living at the edge, writing in the margins in W.G. Tierney & Y.S.Lincoln (eds) Representation and the Text: Re-framing the Narrative Voice, Albany: State University of New York Press.
Mauthner, N. and Doucet, A. (1998) Reflections on a voice-centred relational method: analysing maternal and domestic voices in Ribbens, J. and Edwards, R. (eds) Feminist Dilemmas in Qualitative Research, London: Sage.
Maynard, M. (1994) Methods, Practice and Epistemology: the Debate about Feminism and Research in Maynard, M. and Purvis, J. (eds) Researching Women’s Lives from a Feminist perspective, London: Taylor and Francis.
Olensen, V ( 2000)Feminisms At and Into the Millennium. In Denzin,N. and Lincoln,Y.(eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research, ( 2 nd Edition) London:Sage.
Reinharz, S. (1992) Feminist Methods in Social Research, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Segal, L.(1999) Why Feminism?Gender, Psychology, Politics / Cambridge : Polity Press
Arnot, M. and Mac an Ghaill, M. (2006) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Gender and Education. London: Routledge Falmer.
Butler, J. (1999) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York and London: Routledge.
Clough, P.T. (1994) Feminist Thought: Desire, Power and Academic Discourse, Cambridge, M.A.: Blackwell.
Collins, P.H. (1990) Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall.
Goldberger, N., Tarule, J., Clinchy, B. and Belenky, M. (eds) (1996) Knowledge, Difference and Power: Essays Inspired by Women’s Way’s of Knowing, New York: Basic Books.
Hesse-Biber, S. N. and Yaiser, M. L. (eds.) (2004) Feminist Perspectives on Social Research. Oxford University Press.
Hughes, C. (2002) Key Concepts in Feminist Theory and Research. London: Sage.
Lather, P. (1991) Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagogy With/in the Postmodern. New York: Routledge.
Letherby, G. (2003) Feminist Theory in Research and Practice. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Maynard, M. and Purvis, J. (eds) (1994) Researching Women’s Lives from a Feminist Perspective, London: Taylor and Francis.
Ribbens, J. and Edwards, R. (eds) (1998) Feminist Dilemmas in Qualitative Research, London: Sage.
Stanley, L. (ed) Feminist Praxis: Research, Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology, London: Routledge.
Stanley, L. and Wise, S. (1993) Breaking Out Again: Feminist Ontology and Epistemology. (2nd. rev. ed.) London: Routledge.
Weedon, C. (1996) Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory. (2 nd ed.) Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Weiner, G. (1994) Feminisms in Education: an Introduction. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Feminist educational research: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc/fem_res.html
Gender and Education Association: http://www.genderandeducation.com
Resources for Feminist Research: http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rfr/
Women’s Studies Resources: http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/wstudies/theory.html