ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Special Educational Needs
This article is part of the Research TopicInclusion in Non-formal Education Places for Children and Adults with Disabilities Vol. IIView all 9 articles
Science Capital and Accessible Museum Practices: Applying Double Lenses in a Case Study with Blind and Deaf Visitors in the Brazilian Context
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- 2Fundacao Centro de Ciencias e Educacao Superior a Distancia do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 3Universidade de Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 4Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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This exploratory and qualitative research aims to investigate how Science Capital is connected with accessibility. The study participants were adults, self-identified as blind or Deaf users of Brazilian Sign Language. They were invited to a guided visit at an exhibition at a science museum in Brazil, where data was collected through interviews, observations, and questionnaires. After conducting a thematic analysis, three main categories emerged: 1) Mechanisms of In/Exclusion in Museums and Science, 2) Scientific Content in Context and 3) Attitudes, Values, and Science-Related Dispositions. In each category, evidence shows correlations between accessibility indicators and dimensions of Science Capital. The results from the Science Capital Index questionnaires revealed changes in all participants' scores, with one of the most significant changes being how participants understood what it means to be a scientist. Our study advances previous research that used the Science Capital model by addressing its limitations when applied to people with disabilities. It also challenges the original British/Eurocentric design by proposing a more inclusive approach that considers structural inequalities and contextual barriers, particularly in the Global South.
Keywords: science capita1, disability studies2, science identity3, science aspirations4, accessibility5, non-formal education6, science museum7
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Heck, Norberto Rocha, Bizerra and Ferraro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gabriela Sehnem Heck, heck.gs@gmail.com
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