Leveling the Playing Field

Addressing the Culture of Urban Mathematics Education in Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21423/jume-v14i2a424

Keywords:

equity ethics, STEM education, structural racism, underrepresented racialized minority students, urban mathematics education

Abstract

As a White cis-gender woman and an African American cis-gender woman who are educators and emerging scholars in the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, we come together to review Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation by Ebony Omotola McGee. This book review is based on our understanding of the inequities in the field of STEM education and the effects of these inequities on mathematics education. We invite the reader to join us in this conversation of recognizing the hardships and embracing the success of underrepresented racialized minority students in mathematics and other fields of STEM.

References

Alexander, Q. R., & Hermann, M. A. (2016). African-American women’s experiences in graduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education at a predominantly White university: A qualitative investigation. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(4), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039705

Armstrong, M. A., & Jovanovic, J. (2017). The intersectional matrix: Rethinking institutional change for URM women in STEM. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 10(3), 216–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000021

Ballenger, H. J., Walthall, S., Ekong, D., & Jenkins, T. S. (in press). Effects of an interdiscipli-nary STEM enrichment intervention on STEM career affinity for girls living in Central Georgia. Journal of Education and Learning.

Beasley, M. A., & Fischer, M. J. (2012). Why they leave: The impact of stereotype threat on the attrition of women and minorities from science, math and engineering majors. Social Psy-chology of Education, 15, 427–448.

Borum, V., & Walker, E. (2012). What makes the difference? Black women’s undergraduate and graduate experiences in mathematics. The Journal of Negro Education, 81(4), 366–378. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.81.4.0366

Carlone, H. B., & Johnson, A. (2007). Understanding the science experiences of successful wom-en of color: Science identity as an analytic lens. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(8), 1187–1218.

González, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing prac-tices in households, communities, and classrooms. Routledge.

Hanson, S. (2004). African American women in science: Experiences from high school through the post-secondary years and beyond. Feminist Formations, 16(1), 96–115.

Hollins, E. R. (1996). Culture in school learning: Revealing the deep meaning. Lawrence Erl-baum Associates.

Jackson, D. L. (2013). A balancing act: Impacting and initiating the success of African American female community college transfer students in STEM into the HBCU environment. The Journal of Negro Education, 82(3), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.82.3.0255

Kiyama, J. M., Rios-Aguilar, C. (Eds.). (2018). Funds of knowledge in higher education: Honor-ing students’ cultural experiences and resources as strengths. Routledge.

Lockett, A. W., Gasman, M., & Nguyen, T.-H. (2018). Senior level administrators and HBCUs: The role of support for Black women’s success in STEM. Education Sciences, 8(2), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8020048

Mack, K. M., Winter, K., & Soto, M. (Eds.). (2019). Culturally responsive strategies for re-forming STEM higher education: Turning the TIDES on inequity. Emerald.

McGee, E. O. (2020). Black, brown, bruised: How racialized STEM education stifles innovation. Harvard Education Press.

McGee, E. O., & Bentley, L. (2017) The troubled success of Black women in STEM. Cognition-and Instruction. 35(4), 265–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2017.1355211

McKim, A. J., Sorenson, T. J., Velez, J. J., Field, K. G., Crannell, W. K., Curtis, L. R., Diebel, P. L., Stone, D. L., & Gaebel, K. (2017). Underrepresented minority students find balance in STEM: Implications for colleges and teachers of agriculture. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Journal, 61(4), 317–323.

Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31(2), 132–141.

Nilsson, M. R. (2017). Point of view: Diversity in STEM: Doctor, heal thyself. Journal of Col-lege Science Teaching, 46(4), 8–9. https://doi.org/10.2505/4/jcst17_046_04_8

Perna, L., Lundy-Wagner, V., Drezner, N. D., Gasman, M., Yoon, S., Bose, E., & Gary, S. (2009). The contribution of HBCUS to the preparation of African American women for STEM careers: A case study. Research in Higher Education, 50(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-008-9110-y

Rainey, K., Dancy, M., Mickelson, R., Stearns, E., & Moller, S. (2018). Race and gender differ-ences in how sense of belonging influences decisions to major in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(10), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0115-6

Riegle-Crumb, C., King, B., & Irizarry, Y. (2019). Does STEM stand out? Examining ra-cial/ethnic gaps in persistence across postsecondary fields. Educational Researcher, 48(3), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0013189X19831006

Takeuchi, M. A., Sengupta, P., Shanahan, M.-C., Adams, J. D., & Hachem, M. (2020). Trans-disciplinarity in STEM education: A critical review. Studies in Science Education, 56(2), 213–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2020.1755802

Tate, E. D., & Linn, M. C. (2005). How does identity shape the experiences of women of color engineering students? Journal of Science Education and Technology, 14(5), 483–493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-005-0223-1

Taylor, O. L., McGowan, J., & Alston, S. T. (2008). The effect of learning communities on achievement in STEM fields for African Americans across four campuses. The Journal of Negro Education, 77(3), 190–202.

Tytler, R. (2007). Re-imagining science education: Engaging students in science for Australia's future. Australian Council for Educational Research.

Watkins, S. E., & Mensah, F. M. (2019). Peer support and STEM success for one African Amer-ican female engineer. The Journal of Negro Education, 88(2), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.2.0181

Downloads

Published

2021-12-21

Issue

Section

CRITICAL READS