Detailing Racialized and Gendered Mechanisms of Undergraduate Precalculus and Calculus Classroom Instruction

Abstract

Undergraduate mathematics education can be experienced in discouraging and marginalizing ways among Black students, Latin* students, and white women. Precalculus and calculus courses, in particular, operate as gatekeepers that contribute to racialized and gendered attrition in persistence with mathematics coursework and pursuits in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, student perceptions of instruction in these introductory mathematics courses have yet to be systematically examined as a contributor to such attrition. This paper presents findings from a study of 20 historically marginalized students’ perceptions of precalculus and calculus instruction to document features that they found discouraging and marginalizing. Our analysis revealed how students across different race-gender identities reported stereotyping as well as issues of representation in introductory mathematics classrooms and STEM fields as shaping their perceptions of instruction. These perceptions pointed to the operation of three racialized and gendered mechanisms in instruction: (i) creating differential opportunities for participation and support, (ii) limiting support from same-race, same-gender peers to manage negativity in instruction, and (iii) activating exclusionary ideas about who belongs in STEM fields. We draw on our findings to raise implications for research and practice in undergraduate mathematics education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Latin* is a term that encompasses fluidity of social identities. The asterisk considers variation in self-identification among people of the Latin American diaspora and origin (Salinas, 2020). Latin* responds to (mis)use of Latinx, a term reserved for gender-nonconforming peoples of Latin American origin and descent (Salinas & Lozano, 2019). Student participants in our study self-identified as either Latina women or Latino men.

2 We recognize the interplay of racial, gendered, and other systems of power in mathematics education that shape historically marginalized students’ experiences of intersectional oppression (Bullock, 2018; Joseph, Hailu, & Boston, 2017; Leyva, 2016). Since our study was not designed to document issues of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991), Table 1 outlines parallels between the race- and gender-specific frameworks.

3 The survey item collecting information about students’ gender was inclusive of cis-gender, transgender, and gender nonconforming identities. For deeper within-group comparison, all recruited students self-identified as either cis-gendered women or cis-gendered men. There was limited expressed interest for study participation from students who hold transgender and gender nonconforming identities across racial categories.

4 Participants were compensated for each submission of a journaled event. On average, journaling a single event took 15 minutes, so participants were paid a quarter of their hourly compensation rate for each entry.

5 The stimulus event that involved cold calling on a student was not addressed in some participants’ interviews due to time constraints, so we did not include it in the present analysis.

6 The team inadvertently left pronouns signaling instructors’ and students’ gender identities in fall events. Despite this, we asked participants if their event perceptions changed if the gender identities were different.

7 Five participants (Ife, Victoria, Adrian, Carlos, and Erica) were interviewed after spring 2018 to fill in gaps for planned recruitment across race-gender intersections in fall 2017 and spring 2018.

8 Elsewhere, we completed an analysis of the 85 total entries from event journaling to characterize discouraging and racialized features of undergraduate precalculus and calculus instruction (Amman, Battey, & Berninzon, 2020).

9 In Black discourse, “feeling some type of way” is a phrase that can refer to having negative emotions (e.g. being offended, upset) or finding oneself emotionally conflicted or confused (see examples used in Nadal, Erazo, Schulman, Han, & Deutsch, 2017 and West, 2015). The context in which Quinton raises this phrase, particularly the potentially racialized nature of an instructor repeatedly ignoring him that he cannot confirm, arguably points more to him experiencing confusion or uncertainty.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under DUE-IUSE1711553& DUE-IUSE 1711712.