Thinking about Tipping Points
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When I introduced infinite series to my calculus students, I recalled an interview (The OpEd Project n. d.) with Katie Orenstein—founder of The Op-ed Project—concerning the percentages of women who publish op-ed articles in mainstream newspapers. Currently, women's voices make up only 15 percent of these high-profile opinion pages that contribute thought leadership on local, state, national, and international problems. However, Orenstein conjectured that if her organization could foster change so that 30 percent of op-eds were written by women, then mainstream media would reach a “tipping point,” after which we might soon achieve gender equity on our nation's op-ed pages. Could teaching my students why certain infinite series converge to specific values on the number line while others “tip,” diverging to infinity, foster their abilities to make our world more equitable?
Contributor Notes
Susan D'agostino, s.dagostino@snhu.edu, is an associate professor of mathematics at Southern New Hampshire University. She also serves as an appointed member of the NH Governor's K–Grade 12 STEM Education Task Force.
