The Local Politics of Being a Black Girl Mathematics Doer

• In Event: 54.070 - Problematizing Equal Education Opportunity Reform: Black Women and Girls in Mathematics and Engineering

Abstract

The experiences of Black women and girls provide the impetus for complex analysis of race, gender, and class and, thus, the expansion of theories of learning. In this study, the examination of a third-grade, Black girls’ social network makes known the political risks of being particular “types” of Black girls in a mathematics classroom. Within a Black feminist framework, the girls’ social statuses are presented as a function of the intersections of race, gender, and class, and analyzed along with their mathematics participation. The study relies on ethnographic and qualitative social network analysis. Findings reveal that (1) social groups provided a variety of resources and impediments to mathematics participation; (2) mathematical competence held particular benefits for girls socially and academically; and (3) high social status (as mediated by racial, gendered, and class-based performances) held benefits in terms of ensuring belonging in a social group; however, social status was an insufficient resource for improving one’s mathematical competence. Among various contributions, this study advances the theories of learning by combining theories of communities of practice and social networks.

Author

• Maisie L. Gholson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor