The Narrative: An Introduction

As women with different success in the field of mathematics, my partner and I are personally invested in what are some of the reasons why this is the case. One of us is attached to the cultural and racial stereotype of African American women and the other was raised in an environment satiated with mathematicians and academic encouragement. This dynamic has made for interesting research collaboration.  When researching the topic we specifically we wanted to answer the question “Why are African American females not successful in mathematics?” This led us to ask subsequent and larger questions of why are African Americans not successful in mathematics and more specifically why are females not successful in mathematics?

There are always different voices and motives in any social change with perspectives shaped by their wants and experiences. As the racial stereotypical member of this blog, I experienced math phobia and the assumptions tied to my race and cultural. The experiences of the African American girls in the Voices project (Kusimo 1990) were my experiences. My support as a math student did not come from home like Kimberley Weems and unlike my partner in this project, my parents did not work in the science or math fields nor was math recognized as an important part of my daily life. It was more valuable to my parents that I kept my skirt down and panties up than increasing my math abilities. Cartoons were my babysitter and there were no books in my home outside of the ones I borrowed from the library.

With the recoloring of America and the traditional pool of scientific works shrinking (young white males),  interest in promoting and growing math and science students is being initiated and funded by many different groups. MESA USA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Program) operates in eight states supporting high school co-curricular and summer opportunities for disadvantaged and underrepresented students go on an attain math-based degrees. Colleges have created programs to attract and keep African American students especially in STEM programs. Kennesaw State University not only has the Office of Minority Student Retention but also a mandated Minority Advisement Program with Minority Recruitment Officers http://www.kennesaw.edu/stu_dev/msrs/. Bowling Green State University has a 4-year undergraduate program summer bridge program preparing students to succeed academically in STEM fields. Targeted at women and underrepresented minorities the successful summer graduates are awarded  stipends from $1,000 to $1,500 all four years if they remain in “Good Standing.” The AIMS program at Bowling Green University requires their students to study leading to a bachelor’s degree in STEM related fields or teacher education with a focus in these areas. Students can receive up to $42,000 per year over 5 years to stay in this much needed field. http://www.bgsu.edu/downloads/provost/file49712.pdf. Believing that these schools are participating for purely altruistic reasons is naive yet the schools get to increase the number of women and minorities in the field and regardless of the reason, the outcome is desirable.

As we look into the different views, perspectives and struggles, we hope to find more than finger pointing but workable solutions, good sources of usable information and  hope for all students of color but especially African American girls.

Reference

Kusimo, P. S., & Appalachia Educational Lab., Charleston, WV. (1997). Sleeping Beauty Redefined: African American Girls in Transition.