Intersectional Race/Gender Identities in College Mathematics: A Critical Analysis of Student Narratives on Mathematical Learning and STEM Retention

• In Event: The Many Perspectives and Understandings of STEM

Abstract

This research study aims to develop a rigorous conceptual framework of how first-year, intersectionally-oppressed college students negotiate their social and mathematical learning identities as members of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) support initiatives in higher education. "Intersectionally-oppressed” characterizes historically-minoritized college students upholding racial and gender identifications (i.e. African American females, Latinas) typically marginalized in mathematics and everyday society. With the nuanced interplay of race and gender as identity constructs, this study applies the intersectionality framework (Crenshaw, 1991) to explore how STEM support programs can serve as communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) through which intersectionally-oppressed students adopt successful mathematical learning identities contextualized by systems of societal marginalization and mathematical oppression.

Authors

• Luis Antonio Leyva, Vanderbilt University

• Atiya Strothers