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Pathways to equity in mathematics education: how life experiences impact researcher positionality

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Abstract

This study examined the life histories of a group of emerging scholars in the field of mathematics education who identify themselves as having a particular interest in and concern for issues of equity and diversity. Experiences of being the "other," "bearing witness" to "othering experiences," and "orienting experiences" in relation to issues of equity proved to be prominent themes in participants' life histories. These experiences were then linked to the positionality that these scholars now have in relation to their research in mathematics education.

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Notes

  1. We define the “pathway to equity” as the process of making fair, and of stressing an active dimension separating equity from equality. Equality usually speaks to resources, treatment, and outcomes seeking the same for everyone. In contrast, equity addresses these issues as well as the underlying ideologies that made society unequal in the first place.

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Acknowledgments

The material in this paper is based in part on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0119732. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position, policy, or endorsement of the National Science Foundation. We gratefully acknowledge Tom Carpenter, Meg Meyer, and Dan Battey as well as four anonymous reviewers for feedback on earlier versions of this paper.

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  1. Queens College, CUNY, New York, NY, 11367, USA

    Mary Q. Foote

  2. University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Tonya Gau Bartell

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Correspondence to Mary Q. Foote.

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Foote, M.Q., Gau Bartell, T. Pathways to equity in mathematics education: how life experiences impact researcher positionality. Educ Stud Math 78, 45–68 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-011-9309-2

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