A Review of Equity-Oriented Research for a Proposed Framework of Equitable Practices in Undergraduate Mathematics

• In Event: Equity-Oriented Perspectives on Undergraduate Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a systematic literature review that traces two conceptualizations of equity -- one in mathematics education (Gutiérrez, 2007/2012, 2010/2013a) and one in higher education (Dowd & Bensimon, 2015). Our review takes stock on how these conceptualizations were adopted to theorize equitable practices in undergraduate mathematics. Gutierrez (2007/2012, 2010/2013a) and Dowd & Bensimon (2015), in addition to their impact, were purposefully selected due to their complementary nature. While Gutiérrez theorizes equity at the level of student experience, Dowd and Bensimon conceptualize equity at the institutional level. With a shared stance toward justice at different levels of theorizing, these related publications hold significant promise in advancing our aim to elucidate synergies between the two fields’ study of equity issues, which can inform undergraduate mathematics.

Merging review methodologies from Author (2016, 2017) and Parks (2015), we completed multiple rounds of filtering citing publications to focus on topically relevant research with broad impact (e.g., peer-reviewed, robust citation rates). To avoid reinforcing inequities of knowledge production through traditional measures of impact, we included works published in journals regardless of impact factor, resulting in 181 reviewed publications. Our review systematically identified points of convergence and divergence between the two sets of citing publications. To do this, we inductively coded abstracts and in-text citations, from which we generated categories of how each equity perspective was engaged and themes for connections between them.

We draw on three themes from our findings to develop our framework of equity in undergraduate mathematics. First, both sets of citing publications contribute to equity-oriented inquiry that foregrounds issues of power and transformation as well as issues of identity and care. This theme advocates for undergraduate mathematics instruction that disrupts unequal distribution of mathematical authority, values relational dimensions of classroom experiences, and empowers mathematical learners as change agents. Second, both sets of works highlight the role of faculty in producing classroom environments that disrupt racial inequities through political knowledge (Gutiérrez, 2013b) or equity-mindedness (Dowd & Bensimon, 2015). This connection points to racially-conscious curricula and pedagogies as essential features of equity-oriented undergraduate mathematics instruction. Lastly, our review acknowledges that quantitative data of mathematics achievement has been used as a tool of white supremacy (Gutiérrez, 2008), as well as an important metric of racial inequity that can be leveraged to promote equitable change (Dowd & Bensimon, 2015). This theme translates to justice-oriented ways of using achievement data to inform instructional and assessment practices that disrupt mathematics departments’ exclusionary structures and policies (e.g., curved grades).

Our review extends prior work in three ways. First, our study brings disciplinary specificity to discussions of equity in higher education, thus transforming pedagogies that discount students’ identities and experiences due to constructions of mathematics as asocial (Hottinger, 2016). Second, our study extends calls for race-conscious mathematics teachers to the undergraduate level, where faculty are frequently positioned as gatekeepers rather than mentors. Lastly, our study applies an equity lens to everyday use of achievement data in undergraduate mathematics, which provides actionable recommendations for instructors and department chairs.

Authors

• Luis Antonio Leyva, Vanderbilt University

• B Balmer, Vanderbilt University

• Taylor McNeill, Vanderbilt University