"I'm That Nerd": Exploring Factors That Shape Black Women Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Retention

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Black Women on Teaching

Abstract

In this qualitative study, Black Feminist Thought (BFT) was used as a lens for detailing influences of retention among eight Black women high school mathematics teachers in the U.S. BFT allowed me to: (i) position Black women mathematics teachers as experts authoring their individual lived experiences of their teaching journeys, (ii) elevate their voices as resilient mathematics teachers, learners and doers of mathematics, and (iii) push back on White, Eurocentric logics and frames commonly found in the mathematics teaching literature. Analysis of their interviews revealed that Black women encounter substantial affordances and tensions when negotiating personal, professional, and community goals of teaching mathematics. Implications and future research are discussed.

Author

• Micaela Y. Harris, Vanderbilt University