Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5939-265X

Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Middle and Secondary Education

First Advisor

David W. Stinson

Second Advisor

Gertrude Tinker Sachs

Third Advisor

Janice B. Fournillier

Fourth Advisor

Dihema Longman

Abstract

Mathematics success is argued to be linked to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions that often “provide increased lifetime earning power, suggesting that mathematics is the gatekeeper to higher paying professions” (C.L. Brown et al., 2010, p. 393). Yet, the disconnect between mathematics concepts and students’ everyday lives has been shown to contribute to students’ negative attitudes toward the learning of mathematics (Ali & Reid, 2012) and can greatly affect whether students pursue STEM degrees and related majors (Li & Schoenfeld, 2019; Maass et al., 2019; Shaughnessy, 2013).

Despite the increase of the number of English language learners (ELLs)––students whose first language is not English and are learning English and mathematics content at the same time––in U.S. classrooms, statistical analyses too often focus on the underperformance of ELLs in comparison to their White counterparts (C.L. Brown et al., 2010). This so-named “achievement gap” between ELL and non-ELL students has often brought the focus of ELLs needing language support and having deficiencies in mathematics (de Araujo et al., 2016). This deficit perspective has permeated the educational research surrounding ELLs (Gutiérrez & Dixon-Román, 2010) and when students from minoritized groups do succeed academically they are too often considered as non-representative of their group or labeled as “the exception” (de Araujo et al., 2016, p. 34).

Rather than focusing on the so-named achievement gap between ELLs and non-ELLs, in this study, I explored the mathematics successes of undergraduate ELL women from their perspective of their experiences inside and outside of the mathematics classroom and how these experiences have shaped their on-going relationships with mathematics (Civil, 2007). Through an “eclectic theoretical framework” (Stinson, 2004) of postmodernism (Lyotard, 1984; Derrida, 2007; Foucault, 1978), feminism (Lather, 1991; Harding, 2004), and intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2016), I conducted a cross-case analysis (Stake, 1995) of how undergraduate women, whose first language is not English, pursuing a STEM degree at a public 4-year college engage with mathematics and how that engagement has contributed to their perception of mathematics success. Specifically, I examined how these women have come to their own definition of mathematics success and how their lived experiences have attributed to their success and motivation in pursuing a STEM degree.

An analysis of the findings suggests that the larger discourses that have too often influenced women’s decisions to pursue a STEM degree, such as the “chilly” classroom environment (Parsons, 2016), are still present and were felt in the lives of the four women in this study. These women, who have continued to persist in STEM, shared their stories that highlight issues which are worth investigating and can inform future directions for higher education more broadly. Taking these experiences into account can help educators and policy makers alike challenge and address the larger discourses of who can succeed in STEM and offer ways to support women in institutionalized spaces. In particular, this work should guide the way in which success is defined in mathematics and STEM so as to expand its definition and draw from the strengths of those who continue to persist.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/36960763

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