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Many widening participation (WP) organisations moved their operations online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then anecdotal evidence has suggested that most are retaining an online element to their provision. This study seeks to discover to what extent this is the case, and what providers expect to be the impacts of this shift. By surveying and interviewing sector staff we find that most organisations delivering WP activities to young people plan to continue with some remote delivery. However, our respondents also felt that such sessions were less effective across several measures. We use the framework of Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) to examine this apparent disjunct. Our research finds that while most practitioners do not expect online delivery to be as effective due to issues such as lack of engagement and personal contact, this deficit is balanced by value benefits to themselves and their employers, such as cost and time savings, and increased geographical reach. The study demonstrates the utility of EVT in analysing the decision-making processes of WP staff specifically, and more generally for educators other than classroom teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings from a pilot study undertaken at the Lancashire Science Festival to explore the impact of interacting with a scientist on parents' attitudes towards their child pursuing a career that involves science. Parents were asked a series of questions about their science festival experience and to provide some demographic information. The key finding was that half of the respondents reported that meeting a scientist had made them more likely to think that their child could pursue a career related to science. The attitudinal shift was particularly prevalent amongst parents from low-participation backgrounds. This preliminary finding suggests that interactions between scientists and parents at public science events may offer an avenue by which to foster positive perceptions of science as a career path amongst under-represented groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of peer and friendship-group conversation in educational and career choices is of great relevance to widening participation (WP) practitioners, but has been little studied in recent years. We interviewed young people and WP practitioners in Carlisle, an isolated city in the UK, to interrogate this subject. We found that young people were clearly discussing their future choices, sometimes overtly and sometimes in 'unacknowledged conversations'. However some topics and ambitions were seen as 'too private' to discuss; all of our young people had a plan for the future, but many believed that some of their friends did not, possibly because of this constraint. We also discuss the role of older students in informing choices, the phenomenon of 'clustering' that can lead to young people funnelling into certain options, and the role that geographical isolation might play in exacerbating some effects. Finally we give some recommendations for WP practice based on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science festivals are seen as a success story for public engagement with science, with numbers rapidly growing. However, research has shown that attendees at such events tend to be more affluent, better-educated and more interested in science than populations at large. This has led to calls for research into how festivals can widen participation beyond the already engaged. This paper details the efforts of one festival to attract a more diverse audience through the use of a targeted 'Community Pass', offering attendees a free lunch, as well as by undertaking analysis of the characteristics that made individuals more likely to attend. The research shows that such a scheme can attract a very different audience to visit, albeit on a small scale due to cost implications. Working with existing community groups was shown to be the most effective method of distributing the passes, with recipients valuing a personal interaction with the distributor. There is also some suggestion that the incentive might nudge audiences who had a 'fragile' intention to attend the festival into actually visiting. However, more research is needed into whether larger-scale measures, such as employing community outreach officers, could have a more significant effect on overall attendance profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science festivals are a rapidly-growing phenomenon worldwide, and many such events host trips by school parties. However, what type of learning takes place on these visits, and how effective it is, is an area that merits more academic study. This paper investigates these questions from the perspective of three groups – teachers, pupils and festival organisers – and asks how well the attitudes and priorities of these categories are aligned. We find that teachers and organisers share the primary aim of affective learning (excitement, inspiration) and that this is experienced by almost all pupils. A secondary aim of cognitive (factual) learning is reported by just under half of pupils. However a third aim of careers learning which was expressed by festival organisers and some teachers was not reported by pupil participants. In addition, we found that the groups could work more effectively together to promote educational aims by measures such as reducing the novelty of the event situation and making educational agendas for the visit clearer. Finally, to address the areas of misalignment pinpointed in this study, we give a series of recommendations to optimise learning at such events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]