Gendered Discourses in Television Physics

The media is one of the main sources of non-scientists’ exposure to
science. In the UK, particle physicist Brian Cox has reached millions of
viewers with his appearances on BBC television. The ‘Brian Cox effect’ has
even been attributed to an increased uptake in physics at university. At
the same time, the UK has seen the emergence of an avowedly ‘geek’ culture
which celebrates science in general, and physics in particular. In this
talk I will explore how the media coverage of physics raises issues about
gender. Drawing on the findings of a quantitative analysis of the BBC’s
science coverage and on examples of programmes from the BBC’s flagship
documentary series Horizon, I will examine how television science
construes physics as a predominantly masculine affair. Whilst this arises
in part through the relative absence of women in programmes about physics,
I will argue that the visual composition and narrative structure of these
programmes also contributes to their gendered representations.