(Re)membering Black Girls’ Mathematical Brilliance: The Patriarchal Politics of Advanced Math Access

• In Event: Unforgetting Patriarchy in Mathematics Education Research

Abstract

Drawing from the work of Cynthia B. Dillard, this paper is a deep engagement in the act of (re)membering the ways Black girls have always known their mathematical brilliance by making visible how patriarchy seeks to control who is allowed to know, achieve, and be recognized. In the paper, I (re)search an article published in 2012, one of the earliest studies to explicitly center Black girls in the context of tracking and course placement. While previous scholarship on tracking highlighted its racialized effects (Oakes, 1990, 2005; Darity et al., 2001; Tyson, 2011), few studies considered the intersectional realities of Black girls in relation to math opportunity. The study sought to understand how teacher perceptions and Black girls’ own academic behaviors shaped their access to advanced math.
Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), a nationally representative sample of high school sophomores, the study examined how Black girls’ test performance (e.g., standardized test scores), attitudes toward math (e.g., interest, perceived usefulness), classroom behaviors (e.g., participation, time on homework), and self-confidence influenced whether their teachers recommended them for advanced math courses. The study also analyzed teacher perceptions —particularly their expectations about a student’s future educational attainment to understand their recommendation decisions. Framed within an education production function (EPF) model, the study found that Black girls who expressed greater confidence in their math ability were less likely to be recommended for advanced coursework. Additionally, teacher expectations about a Black girl’s future educational attainment—especially belief that the student would attend graduate school—significantly increased the likelihood of recommendation for advanced math course taking.

More than a decade later, questions about Black girls’ pushout from advanced coursework remain pressing. Recent studies continue to highlight the racialized nature of tracking (Hirschl & Smith, 2023) and its consequences (Francis & Darity, 2021). And the few studies that have examined the intersection of race and gender in tracking practices have done so through economic theoretical and analytical frames (Author, 2012; Young, Young, & Capraro, 2020).

In this reanalysis, I use a patriarchal analytic lens to interrogate the disinvestment of Black girls in advanced math courses. Three themes emerged from the reanalysis of the study. First, the reinterpretation shows how patriarchal norms reward submissive femininity and punish Black girls who express confidence in their mathematical abilities. Second, it reveals how teacher decision-making is shaped by male-dominant ways of knowing that disinvest in Black girls’ intellectual capacity. Finally, it challenges the presumed neutrality of theoretical models grounded in white male logics, exposing how such modeling creates policy implications that reproduce the long-standing underrepresentation of Black girls in advanced mathematics.
By (re)membering Black girls’ mathematical brilliance through this patriarchal critique, the paper contributes to the growing body of work that seeks to unforget to disrupt dominant narratives of merit, ability, and belonging in mathematics education.

Author

• Shanyce L. Campbell, University of Pittsburgh