Pursuing the Mathematics Professoriate: Examining Graduate Students' Experiences

• In Event: Math Education Support Structures of RPP (Research-Practice Partnership), Teacher Leaders, Principals, Parents, and Future Math Professionals

Abstract

To better support mathematics graduate students’ transition to the professoriate, we must first critically examine their experiences to identify areas of systemic inequities. Drawing on socialization theory and social identity theory, I qualitatively analyzed mathematics graduate students’ responses to open-ended survey questions about challenges to completing the doctoral program and barriers to pursuing faculty positions. Unnecessary difficulties with qualifying exams, lack of funding, and tensions with faculty were the most frequently cited challenges. Furthermore, women-identifying graduate students explicitly mentioned how their gender identity made navigating graduate education more difficult. A better understanding of the experiences of graduate students – especially historically underrepresented students - positions higher education institutions to more equitably reimagine and restructure the pathways to the mathematics professoriate.

Author

• Royce Olarte, University of California - Santa Barbara