Exploring Undergraduate Women of Color’s Mathematical Values in the United States Through Cultural Values and Mathematical Discourses

Scholars suggest numerous cognitive and affective benefits from incorporating students’ values into the mathematics classroom (Hill et al., ECNU Review of Education 4:349–375, 2021; Hunter et al., New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies 51:197–209, 2016). However, undergraduate mathematics in the United States does not often reflect the cultural values of women of color (Leyva, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 52:117–151, 2021; McGee, American Educational Research Journal 53:1626–1662, 2016). In this chapter, I explore the mathematical and mathematics education values of women of color STEM majors and to what extent these values are reflected in their undergraduate mathematics spaces. Informed by a sociopolitical lens, I consider how gendered and racialized mathematical discourses influence women of color’s values and experiences in undergraduate mathematics. The results suggest five areas of values misalignment based on sociohistorical Western mathematical values: meaning of mathematics, mathematics as fast-paced, innateness of mathematical ability, mathematics is competitive, and mathematics as a gatekeeper. Based on these results, I discuss various implications for practice to better reflect women of color’s values in the undergraduate classroom and support more equitable mathematics environments.