When Homer Plessy refused to move from an all-white railroad car to the legally segregated black railway carriage car (1896) he set into motion the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) 50 years later overturning separate but equal laws and the democratic right to adequate public education for all students. The long battle for academic equality for African Americans still exist today in many forms including stereotype threats (Steele, 1995), lack of culturally relevant pedagogy (Leonard et.al 2010) and segregation called tracking. Knowing that “students won’t learn what they are not taught” (Oakes 1990) the quality of science and mathematics education depends to a very large extent on the capabilities of science and mathematics teachers (Weiss, 1987).
Still the many programs aimed at educating all students have left women and minorities behind. Women’s education was initially confided to the three c’s – cleaning, cooking and child-rearing (Noelle 2010) and it wasn’t until the end of the 1700s that grammar schools allowed girls. These three c’s applied to all women, until the Women’s Movement started in the 1800’s and the Equal Rights Amendment facilitated the escape from traditional societal women roles. Most African American women would have to wait until the Civil Rights Movement to move primarily from domestics to other fields like nursing (my mother) or business owners and entrepreneurs like Lydia Newman (hair brush) .
Women like Patsy Sherman (one of the patent holders for scotch guard) and Grace Hopper (one of the developer of computer language COBOL in 1960 for the Navy) are products of the earlier tenacity of women in history. Gloria Conyers Hewitt was the 7th African American woman to earn her Ph.D. in math from the University of Washington. History has not been celebratory of these women and they are not held up to the light the same as their male or White (in the case of Hewitt) counterparts.
Knowing that with encouragement, access, highly qualified teachers and institutional support women, especially African American women can be successful in math and any other discipline we move toward why this problem exists.
References
Leonard, J., Brooks, W., Barnes-Johnson, J., & Berry, I. I. I. R. Q. (May 01, 2010). The nuances and complexities of teaching mathematics for cultural relevance and social justice. Journal of Teacher Education, 61, 3, 261-270.
Noelle, K. (2010) The history of women’s education in America. http://www.ehow.com/about_6729065_history-women_s-education-america.html
Oakes, J. (1990) Multiplying inequities: The effects of race, social class, and tracking on opportunities to learn mathematics and science. Santa Monica, CA: The RAND Corporation.
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (January 01, 1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 5, 797-811.
Summary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S. Ct. 686, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954)
Weiss, I. (1987) Report of the 1985-86 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. Research Triangle, NC: Research Triangle Institute.
Still the many programs aimed at educating all students have left women and minorities behind. Women’s education was initially confided to the three c’s – cleaning, cooking and child-rearing (Noelle 2010) and it wasn’t until the end of the 1700s that grammar schools allowed girls. These three c’s applied to all women, until the Women’s Movement started in the 1800’s and the Equal Rights Amendment facilitated the escape from traditional societal women roles. Most African American women would have to wait until the Civil Rights Movement to move primarily from domestics to other fields like nursing (my mother) or business owners and entrepreneurs like Lydia Newman (hair brush) .
Women like Patsy Sherman (one of the patent holders for scotch guard) and Grace Hopper (one of the developer of computer language COBOL in 1960 for the Navy) are products of the earlier tenacity of women in history. Gloria Conyers Hewitt was the 7th African American woman to earn her Ph.D. in math from the University of Washington. History has not been celebratory of these women and they are not held up to the light the same as their male or White (in the case of Hewitt) counterparts.
Knowing that with encouragement, access, highly qualified teachers and institutional support women, especially African American women can be successful in math and any other discipline we move toward why this problem exists.
References
Leonard, J., Brooks, W., Barnes-Johnson, J., & Berry, I. I. I. R. Q. (May 01, 2010). The nuances and complexities of teaching mathematics for cultural relevance and social justice. Journal of Teacher Education, 61, 3, 261-270.
Noelle, K. (2010) The history of women’s education in America. http://www.ehow.com/about_6729065_history-women_s-education-america.html
Oakes, J. (1990) Multiplying inequities: The effects of race, social class, and tracking on opportunities to learn mathematics and science. Santa Monica, CA: The RAND Corporation.
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (January 01, 1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 5, 797-811.
Summary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S. Ct. 686, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954)
Weiss, I. (1987) Report of the 1985-86 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. Research Triangle, NC: Research Triangle Institute.
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