Biologi under lupp

Abstract

This study examines conceptions about the biology discipline and its practices, which are explicitly and implicitly presented in biology environments at Swedish universities. The empirical material has been obtained through “shadowing” and interviewing biologists and is analyzed with inspiration from Gee’s discourse analysis. The overall biology discourse consists of a number of sub-discourses, which sometimes express tensions between each other. One of these is the discourse of superior research with competitive, high performance, heavily equipped environments – a discourse which is in opposition to teaching activities. Another sub-discourse concerns the successful strategic biologist, and this discourse is in tension with the discourse of the enthusiastic, devoted, nature-loving biologist. The meritocratic discourse characterized by competence, knowledge and talent supposedly without the influence of gender, ethnicity, or class, contrasts, in its turn, with the discourse of the gendered practice that is visible in the material. These different sub-discourses are more or less inclusive for different individuals, something which can be observed in the gendered practices.