When Values Diverge: Examining the Beliefs of Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants From a Sociopolitical Perspective

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Seventeen
  In Roundtable Session: Assessing Our Values in Math Education (Table 1)

Abstract

This qualitative study uses sociopolitical perspectives—specifically, Critical Race Theory—to examine the values, beliefs, and perspectives of ten mathematics graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) at a historically white university. In particular, this study seeks to examine whether GTAs conform to or diverge from traditional faculty mathematics and STEM faculty values that exclude underrepresented undergraduate students of Color, and whether they recognize the roles of racism and whiteness in shaping these traditional values. Preliminary findings suggest that while GTAs feel disconnected from and disagree with traditional, exclusionary faculty values, they are unable to articulate how racism shapes these values and has led to a lack of racial diversity in their mathematics department.

Author

• Kristyn Lue, University of Southern California
  Presenting Author