| Abstract: | This study documents how adult female volunteers, historically inexperienced and/or excluded from traditional practices of science, come to engage in science activities through an informal, museum‐ and community‐based context that helps them to appreciate science connections that are ultimately empowering. Such informal contexts, often thought to be marginal to prevailing educational beliefs and practices, can offer adults outside of the fields of science and education an entry into science learning and teaching, facilitating participation in legitimate and empowering ways. The focus is on three adult female members' unique trajectories of participation, leading to sustained commitment and contribution, or “core member status.” Each draws on different aspects of the program that she finds most salient, illustrating how different elements can serve as motivators for initial engagement, and can support continuation along the trajectory of participation in an informal science program for girls. |
