By Luis A. Leyva
Associate Professor of Mathematics Education & STEM Higher Education
Vanderbilt University - Peabody College of Education & Human Development

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for reflecting on the notable accomplishments, vast cultural diversity, and shared histories of oppression and liberation among individuals in the Latin*¹ community. The theoretical perspective of intersectionality provides a lens that uncovers the multiplicity of Latin* people’s realities of marginalization and empowerment due to interplay between systems of power, including racism and cisheteropatriarchy (Anzaldúa, 1987/2012; Crenshaw, 1991). My remarks during the Iris M. Carl Equity Address, which will take place at the 2024 NCTM Annual Meeting during Hispanic Heritage Month, will elevate intersectional experiences of struggle, support, and success among Latin* students as mathematics learners. Aligned with the Annual Meeting’s theme of illuminating mathematical brilliance, the Equity Address will center students’ narratives of experiences to shed light on pedagogical possibilities for intersectional justice that both recognize and nurture Latin* brilliance in mathematics.      

Intersectional justice is a cornerstone of my research at the juncture of mathematics education and STEM higher education (Leyva, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024b; Leyva et al., 2024; Leyva et al., 2022a). I conduct research alongside undergraduate students marginalized across various intersections of race, gender, and other social identities in STEM to elucidate features of pedagogy that cultivate equitable opportunities for learning mathematics. In a project exploring experiences among undergraduate queer and trans*² students of color (QTSOCs), findings capture the important role that mathematics plays in students’ trajectories as STEM majors (Leyva, 2022, 2024a, 2024b; Leyva et al., 2022a). Black, Latin*, and Asian queer and trans* students describe how the quality of mathematics pedagogy, both in P-12 schools and undergraduate classrooms, nurtures or thwarts their sense of competence and belonging in the sciences. Using the lens of intersectionality, I capture how interplay between race, gender, and sexuality shape variation in the impact of mathematics pedagogy across QTSOCs’ educational experiences. In this blog post, I leverage research findings specific to the role of mathematics education in raising recommendations for P-12 classroom teaching practices that support intersectionality of experiences among QTSOCs. I present two recommendations based on QSTOCs’ perspectives on curricula, instruction, and student support that influenced mathematics learning opportunities and persistence in STEM majors. These recommendations advance my proposed vision of pedagogy for intersectional justice among QTSOCs to disrupt anti-Black racism and cisheteropatriarchy in mathematics education (see Leyva, 2024a and Leyva et al., 2022b).

Identity-Affirming Curricula and Equitable Participation Opportunities

QTSOCs perceive a disconnect between their intersectional identities and opportunities for learning mathematics. Students frequently describe mathematics curricula and instructional practices as devoid of engaging any aspects of their identities, including issues of social inequality that impact queer and trans* communities of color (e.g., climate change, healthcare access). Such erasure of intersectional humanities and experiences reflect how dominant constructions of the mathematics discipline as irrelevant to social realities organize classroom practices that marginalize QTSOCs’ identities. However, when classroom educators carve opportunities for QTSOCs to see themselves reflected and recognized (e.g., highlighting lived experiences among mathematicians who identify as queer and/or people of color, embedding relevant social issues in curricula), the oppressive sense of mathematics education as disassociated with who one is and what one values is disrupted. The disruption of curricula and instruction that erase QTSOCs’ intersectionality of experiences allows for strong co-constructions of social and mathematics identities, in addition to agency in engaging the discipline as a tool for mobilizing justice among queer and trans* people of color in society.

Despite views of mathematics as ‘neutral,’ QTSOCs experience mathematics classrooms as vulnerable spaces. Stereotypes of ability (e.g., Black and Latin* students are innately bad at mathematics), isolation due to limited diversity (e.g., underrepresentation of women as well as trans* and nonbinary people), and concerns about homophobic and transphobic interactions (e.g., being misgendered) produce risks of participating in mathematics classrooms. QTSOCs must navigate unique forms of oppression at the juncture of racist and cisheteropatriarchal systems that give rise to inequities of classroom participation. For instance, Latin* queer women may be wary that justifying their mathematical ideas may be undermined or come off as being sassy, and Black gender-nonconforming students may grapple with tensions that their racialized-gendered presence is perceived as threatening and thus limit participation to protect their identities.

QTSOCs express how pedagogy plays a crucial role in mitigating intersectional oppression related to classroom participation. Namely, practices of instruction and student support can disrupt vulnerability of participation in mathematics classrooms as white, cisheteropatriarchal spaces. Some examples of practices include: (i) adoption of community-building activities through which students get to know each other as whole individuals, (ii) establishment of expectations for classroom participation with explicit acknowledgment for ensuring equitable learning opportunities, and (iii) engagement with students’ questions from a space of consciousness regarding systemic inequities that shape variation in access to developing mathematical skills. These classroom practices cultivate a learning environment where QTSOCs can more readily focus on learning content as well as contribute their mathematical ideas without managing emotional and cognitive burdens regarding how others will receive their participation.

Networks of Identity-Affirming Support for Mathematical Success

QTSOCs reflect on how support from educators, peers, and families was influential in their pursuits of mathematical success and STEM majors. For instance, many QTSOCs create study groups for mathematics and other STEM coursework where they not only receive academic support, but also experience a sense of affinity with others who share aspects of their intersectional identities. Family is also a source of encouragement in QTSOCs’ trajectories as mathematics learners and aspiring STEM majors despite navigating tensions regarding their queerness due to cisheteronormative ideologies across racialized communities (e.g., politics of respectability in the Black community, machismo and marianismo in Latin* culture). QTSOCs’ educational experiences, therefore, convey the importance of communal support aligned with cultural values of collectivism within the queer community and among people of color. Such relational support is at odds with dominant views of mathematics learning as an independent endeavor that frame individualistic approaches to educational practices (e.g. achievement used to determine access to advanced coursework for STEM majors). Such gatekeeping structures that reinforce individualism in mathematics learning largely result in QTSOCs’ supportive, identity-affirming relationships of support becoming exceptions to the norm across their experiences.

Networks of support that QTSOCs view as valuable in learning mathematics are often left up to them to find and build outside of the classroom. In addition, QTSOCs report that networks of support as mathematics learners do not guarantee affirmation of their full intersectional selves (e.g., repressing queerness in identity affinity spaces and study groups with mostly cisgender, heterosexual peers of color). These challenges depict how cultivating educational realities that embrace QTSOCs’ communal value of mathematics learning and the intersectionality of their experiences should be a pedagogical responsibility among classroom teachers. With a curricular design that prioritizes collective sensemaking (e.g., use of groupwork), QTSOCs can readily build relationships with classmates who may become part of their networks of support. Teachers and their students can co-develop norms for groupwork and classroom participation in general (e.g., ensuring all voices are heard in problem solving, honoring pronouns and chosen names). In developing these norms, teachers must underscore the collective goal of building a classroom community where QTSOCs and other historically marginalized populations are ensured comfort in bringing their whole selves into mathematics learning. Teachers can also help QTSOCs build networks of support beyond the classroom by connecting them with queer affinity organizations in schools (e.g., Gay Straight Alliances) and their local communities (e.g., PATHS program for queer and trans* youth in STEM). These spaces extend QTSOCs’ support from mathematics classrooms through connections with queer individuals who can help them overcome academic struggles, learn about STEM careers, and process intersectionality as queer people of color.

In closing, the recommendations outlined in this blog post aim to support P-12 classroom teachers in developing pedagogy that embraces and cultivates QTSOCs’ mathematical brilliance. These educational practices are not one-size-fits-all as intersectionality of student experiences will vary. Latin* students, for instance, have uniquely racialized histories in U.S. society and gendered cultural backgrounds that implicate pedagogy for disrupting mathematics education as an anti-Black, cisheteropatriarchal space and affirming their intersectional identities. I look forward to amplifying narratives of experiences from Latin* learners across gender and sexual identities during the Iris M. Carl Equity Address at the 2024 NCTM Annual Meeting to mobilize pedagogical reform in a broader movement of intersectional justice for mathematics education.     

References

Anzaldúa, G. (1987/2012). Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza. Aunt Lute Books.

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Identity politics, intersectionality, and violence against women. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039.

Leyva, L. A. (2016). An intersectional analysis of Latin@ college women's counter-stories in mathematics. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 9(2), 81-121. https://doi.org/10.21423/jume-v9i2a295.

Leyva, L. A. (2018). The counter-storytelling of Latinx men’s co-constructions of masculinities and undergraduate mathematical success. In A. Weinberg, C. Rasmussen, J. Rabin, M. Wawro, & S. Brown (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 1031-1040). San Diego, CA.

Leyva, L. A. (2021). Black women’s counter-stories of resilience and within-group tensions in the white, patriarchal space of mathematics education. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 52(2), 117-151. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc-2020-0027.

Leyva, L. A. (2022). Latin* queer students intersectionality of experiences in mathematics education as a white, cisheteropatriarchal space: A Borderlands perspective. In A. Lischka, E. B. Dyer, R. S. Jones, J. N. Lovett, J. Strayer, & S. Drown (Eds.), Proceedings of the 44th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 79-97). Nashville, TN. https://doi.org/10.51272/pmena.44.2022.

Leyva, L. A. (2024a). Queer of color justice in undergraduate mathematics education. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 71, 212-225. https://doi.org/10.1090/noti2875.

Leyva, L. A. (2024b). The rights of undergraduate queer and trans* students of color as STEM majors. Theory Into Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2024.2389015.

Leyva, L. A., Byrne, M. H., Asada, M., Mitchell, N. D., Posada-Castañeda, R., & López-Bazán, R. (2024). Groupwork as a site for servingness among undergraduate Latin* mathematics students. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Research inUndergraduate Mathematics Education. Omaha, NE.

Leyva, L.A., McNeill, R. T., Balmer, B. R., Marshall, B. L., King, V. E., & Alley, Z. D. (2022a). Black queer students’ counter-stories of invisibility in undergraduate STEM as a white, cisheteropatriarchal space. American Educational Research Journal, 59(5), 863-904. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831222109645.

Leyva, L. A., McNeill, R. T., & Duran, A. (2022b). A queer of color challenge to neutrality in undergraduate STEM pedagogy as a white, cisheteropatriarchal space. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28, 79-94. https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2022036586.

Note: Thank you, Melissa Adams Corral and Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis, for your feedback on content that I developed in this blog post.