Screening Women in SET: How Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Are Represented in Films and on Television Joan Haran, Mwenya Chimba, Grace Reid, and Jenny Kitzinger Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies Cardiff University © UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC) and Cardiff University 2008 First Published March 2008 ISBN: 978-1-905831-18-0 About the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET Established in 2004 and funded by DIUS, to support the Government's ten-year strategy for Science and Innovation, the UKRC works to improve the participation and position of women in SET across industry, academia and public services in the UK. The UKRC provides advice and consultancy on gender equality to employers in industry and academia, professional institutes, education and Research Councils. The UKRC also helps women entering into and progressing within SET careers, through advice and support at all career stages, training, mentoring and networking opportunities. UKRC Research Report Series The UKRC Research Report Series provides an outlet for discussion and dissemination of research carried out by the UKRC, UKRC Partners, and externally commissioned researchers. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the UKRC. You can download a copy of this report as a PDF from our website. Please contact our UKRC Helpline for further information about this and other UKRC reports, or visit our website: UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Listerhills Park of Science and Commerce 40 - 42 Campus Road Bradford, BD7 1HR Tel: 01274 436485 Fax: 01274 436471 Web: www.ukrc4setwomen.org Email: [email protected] Contents Acknowledgements.......................................................................... i Executive summary......................................................................... ii Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................... 1 1.1 Background.....................................................................................................1 1.2 A brief review of existing literature and our own previous research ................2 1.3 Research design.............................................................................................5 1.4 An introduction to theoretical issues around diverse media. ...........................6 1.5 The structure of the report ..............................................................................7 Chapter 2: Representing women in SET in film and TV drama.... 8 2.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................8 2.2 Method............................................................................................................8 2.2.1 Sample selection ..................................................................................8 2.2.2 Textual analysis strategy ....................................................................14 2.2.3 Additional research .............................................................................16 2.3 Findings from the thematic analysis of film and TV drama narrative texts ....16 (a) Casting and share of narrative time........................................................16 (b) Represented hierarchies ........................................................................18 (c) Battle of the sexes ..................................................................................20 (d) Scientists and non-scientists ..................................................................21 (e) Gendered career and life course issues.................................................23 (f) Gender, emotion and rationality ..............................................................24 (g) Appearance............................................................................................26 (h) The image of science .............................................................................26 2.4 Reflections from the audience and the producers.........................................26 2.4.1 What do audiences make of series drama on television?...................26 2.4.2 The view from script writers ................................................................29 2.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................34 Chapter 3: The representation of women in SET in a drama- documentary.................................................................................. 35 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................35 3.2 The drama-documentary genre.....................................................................35 3.3 Programme description.................................................................................36 3.4 Research methods........................................................................................39 3.5 Findings ........................................................................................................40 (a) Cast order and share of narrative time ...................................................40 (b) Represented hierarchies ........................................................................42 (c) Battle of the sexes ..................................................................................44 (d) Scientists and non-scientists ..................................................................47 (e) Gender, emotion and rationality .............................................................49 (f) Gendered career and life-course issues..................................................51 (g) Appearance............................................................................................53 (h) Motivations .............................................................................................56 (i) Character identification............................................................................58 (j) The image of science ..............................................................................61 3.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................64 Chapter 4: Representing women in SET in documentary .......... 67 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................67 4.2 A reflection on the status and form of documentary......................................68 4.3 Method..........................................................................................................69 4.3.1 Sampling strategy ...............................................................................69 4.3.2 Analysis method .................................................................................70 4.4 Findings ........................................................................................................71 4.4.1 The quantitative analysis of 33 episodes: the gender-balance of experts used ................................................................................................71 4.4.2 A basic quantitative profile of the 10 episodes....................................73 4.4.3 Qualitative analysis by theme .............................................................75 (a) Casting and share of narrative time........................................................76 (b) Represented hierarchies ........................................................................76 (c) Battle of the sexes ..................................................................................77 (d) Scientists and non-scientists ..................................................................78 (e) Gender, emotion and rationality .............................................................79 (f) Gendered career and life-course Issues .................................................79 (g) Appearance............................................................................................80 (h) The image of science .............................................................................81 4.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................83 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ........................ 85 References..................................................................................... 89 Endnotes........................................................................................ 92 Appendices.................................................................................... 95 Acknowledgements Thanks are due to the individuals who gave us an insight into the media realm by allowing us to interview them. Also thank you to the scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians who shared their experiences and impressions of STEM representation within the media with us. Without their contribution this project would not have existed. Thank you to the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET (UKRC) who, through their ESF-funded JIVE project, provided the opportunity and funding to carry out this study. Additionally, UKRC’s help and advice throughout the project has been greatly appreciated. Finally we are particularly grateful to our advisory committee for the expertise and enthusiasm they brought to advising on these projects. i Executive summary This report is part of