Date Approved

7-22-2004

Embargo Period

4-27-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Teaching

Department

Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Jorgensen, Donna

Subject(s)

Gender identity in education; High school students--Attitudes

Disciplines

Secondary Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this research project was to examine the factors that influence and affect identity formation by female adolescents during the high school years. Group discussion sessions were held for a sample size of 6 participants that introduced certain topics that were deemed relevant to adolescent females' identity formation. Through the group discussions, participants demonstrated that these topics, including body image, family pressure, and relationships, were inherent to the ways they form identity during the high school years. Upon completion of the data collection, the discussion sessions were coded for each topic and then divided by those responses deemed positive, or characteristic of self-worth and acceptance, and those that were deemed negative, or characteristic of submission and inferiority. By coding each response, it was clear which participants had begun to form a healthy identity and which participants were more apt to continue to form a negative identity. Implications for educators on the topic of identity formation in female adolescents and what improvements can be made are discussed, while specific identity analyses of each participant are given.

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