Racialized and Gendered Labor in Students’ Responses to Precalculus and Calculus Instruction

Author:
Dan Battey Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

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Kristen Amman Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

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Luis A. Leyva Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

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Nora Hyland Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

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Emily Wolf McMichael Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

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Volume/Issue:
Volume 53: Issue 2
Page(s):
94–113
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc-2020-0170
Restricted access
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Keywords:
Race; Gender; Labor; Calculus instruction; Undergraduate education

Precalculus and calculus are considered gatekeeper courses because of their academic challenge and status as requirements for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and non-STEM majors alike. Despite college mathematics often being seen as a neutral space, the field has identified ways that expectations, interactions, and instruction are racialized and gendered. This article uses the concept of labor to examine responses from 20 students from historically marginalized groups to events identified as discouraging in precalculus and calculus instruction. Findings illustrate how Black students, Latina/o students, and white women engage in emotional and cognitive labor in response to discouraging events. Additionally, to manage this labor, students named coping strategies that involved moderating their participation to avoid or minimize the racialized and gendered impact of undergraduate mathematics instruction.

Footnotes

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-IUSE 1711553 and DUE-IUSE 1711712. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The guest editor for this article was Rose Mary Zbiek.

Contributor Notes

Dan Battey, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901; dan.battey@gse.rutgers.edu

Kristen Amman, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901; kristen.amman@gse.rutgers.edu

Luis A. Leyva, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Pl., Nashville, TN 37203; luis.a.leyva@vanderbilt.edu

Nora Hyland, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901; nora.hyland@gse.rutgers.edu

Emily Wolf McMichael, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901; emily.wolf@gse.rutgers.edu

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Copyright:
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. All rights reserved. 2022
Page Count:
20
Article Category:
Research Article
Received:
29 Jun 2020
Accepted:
29 Sep 2020
Print Publication Date:
01 Mar 2022
Online Publication Date:
Mar 2022
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