Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie | France
Dr. Anne-Sophie Godfroy-Genin is an associate professor at University Paris-Est-Creteil-Val-de-Marne and a researcher at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan at the research unit “STEF: Sciences Technique Education Formation”.
She studied philosophy, history of art and logics at the University Panthéon-Sorbonne when she was student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris. She received her PhD in Philosophy at the University Paris Sorbonne in 2004. The topic was risk and decision under uncertainty and the emergence of probability during the XVIIth century.
Her main research interests focus on large scale cross comparisons and mixed methodologies, quantitative as well as qualitative and epistemology for the human and social sciences. This research is based on a long experience of research in European Union funded projects. She is also interested in gender studies and women studies, history of science, history of science in science teaching and for teachers training, risk and decision under uncertainty and science in society issues in general.
Project at IAS-STS: International comparisons in science studies: what and why do we compare?
General objectives of the research project are to analyse comparative methodologies and classifications in current science in society international projects with a special focus on gender and science topics; to analyse comparative methodologies from other fields, especially quantitative benchmarking methodologies and methodology for comparative literature; to question the impact of current methodologies and classifications on EU research in HSS and on research governance; to experiment alternative methodologies and classifications.
This research is based on the experience of EU-funded research projects for the last ten years: about women and engineering (WOMENG), about women in technological research (PROMETEA), about gender and scientific education in secondary education and higher education (INDECS, MOTIVATION, HELENA). Such projects raise questions about existing classifications and issues, not fitting the actual existing research settings. What do we compare, do we ask the right questions, do we speak about existing research objects?
Another issue is about the comparative methodology itself. It is obvious that such comparative challenges could be productive and useful, if we could define methodologies somewhere between OECD benchmarking and comparative literature methodologies. We need new methodologies to compare without missing specific contexts. In addition, those methodologies should deliver effective tools to analyse large amount of data, taking into account translation problems and mixing various types of data: qualitative, quantitative, more or less certain, first hand and second hand, statistical, from case studies, etc. A better use of CAQDA tools should be explored in that perspective.
International comparisons assume that we could indentify good practice, common indicators, etc. Scientific governance is based on such assumptions, but what happens to that model if the classifications are not so relevant and if we have no methodology to take into account local settings or new surprising facts? Maybe comparisons between styles of governance, as suggested by Jasanoff (2005) would be more enlightening. Rethinking methodology for SSH in science studies could lead to rethink the governance of science itself.
Selected publications
2009 : Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie, "From the doctrine of probability to the theory of probability: the emergence of modern probability calculus", Foundations Of The Formal Sciences VI : Reasoning about Probabilities and Probabilistic Reasoning, Studies in Logic, College Publications.
2009 : Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie, "Women’s academic careers in technology, a comparative European perspective", in Equal Opportunities International, Vol 28. N°1, 2009. Emerald Publishing, p.80-79.
2007 : Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie & Sagebiel, Felizitas 2007. "Möglichkeiten und Schwierigkeiten internationaler und multimethodologischer Forschung uber Gender in den Ingenieurwissenschaften". Zeitschrift für Frauenforschung und Geschlechterstudien, 25. Jh. 2007, Heft 2.
2006 : Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie & Pinault, Cloé 2006. "The Benefits of Comparing Grapefruits and Tangerines: Toolbox for European Cross-Cultural Comparisons in Engineering Education. Using this Toolbox to Study Gendered Images of Engineering among Students". In: European Journal of Engineering Education, 2006 Vol. 31, No.1, March, pp. 23-33. Taylor and Francis.
2010: Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie, "Methodological issues in PROMETEA project : classifications, fuzzy borders of technology, gender", in Proceedings of the PROMETEA conference on Women in Engineering and Technology Research, edited by Anne-Sophie Godfroy-Genin. (under print)