Doctoral Dissertation Research: Spatial Dimensions of Gender Identities of Adolescent Females in Charleston, South Carolina

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Exciting new lines of research recently have focused on the development of spatial reasoning and skills among different groups of people. Some of these studies have examined differences among males and females. This doctoral dissertation research project will examine how teenage girls conceive of space and use spatial strategies to maneuver through social contexts that are controlled adult and influenced by gender. The research seeks (1) to provide a better understanding of girls' spaces and of the ways girls create and manipulate space for expression of their identities; (2) to investigate the relationship of specific spaces, including institutional and personal spaces, and girls' articulations of their everyday experiences and behaviors in those spaces; and (3) to provide a means for teenage participants to express and represent meanings of space and identity in their everyday lives. Media analysis and interviews with adult service providers and educators will provide contextual data on the spaces in which girls spend much of their time in Charleston, South Carolina. These sources of information also will contribute to analyses connecting adult-ordered space with spatial actions of teenage girls. The study then will focus on individual and group interviews with teenage girls and will use participatory research methods to provide a means for teenage participants to express and represent meanings of space and identity in their lives. Participatory activities will include map-making exercises, photography, journal writing, and dissemination of these research activities and products. This research will shed valuable new light on the range of strategies that girls employ to negotiate spaces that are defined and enforced by adults. The results of this research will expand understandings of the relationships between space and girls' identity expression in order to produce knowledge that more accurately relates to their own everyday behaviors and attitudes. The project will contribute to understandings of the importance of space and place in gender-related social science, and it will explore new types of participatory research methods. While studying the teen participants as social actors, the project also will encourage their awareness of space through the research activities. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.