Learning Sciences Lunch and Learn with Dr. Anne Cawley “Sense of Belonging in the Mathematics Classroom through the Lens Microaggressions”
Connect with colleagues during this in-person presentation at the GSE (Room 124). Pizza will be provided! Can’t attend in person? Join us remotely via Zoom!
Microaggressions are intentional or unintentional messages that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages towards a recipient (Sue et al., 2007). Microaggressions that students receive in a math class can impact a students’ learning experience and can often lead to feelings of exclusion (Cawley et al., 2023). This talk will share findings of the ways that 185 math students have experienced microaggressions, specifically mathematical, racial, and gendered microaggressions, and the impact they had on a student’s sense of belonging.
Suggested Reading:
- Cawley, A. & Wilson, R. (2024). “Really, you’re a math major?!”: Students’ Descriptions of racial and gendered microaggressions and sense of belonging in mathematics. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference for the Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. Omaha, NE.
- Cawley, A., Aniceto, R., Ricarte, S., & Wilson, R. (February, 2023). “Well, it’s obvious”: Students’ experiences with mathematical microaggressions. Paper submitted for the Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference for the Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. Omaha, NE.
Dr. Anne Cawley is an associate professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Cal Poly Pomona, in California. Her research in Mathematics Education relates to diversity, equity & inclusion, classroom experiences of historically underrepresented and minoritized students, math instruction in the first two years of college, and professional development (PD) for mathematics faculty towards equity-minded teaching practices. Current projects include preparing community college math faculty to teach math courses for future elementary teachers, while also providing community across campuses as well as understanding student sense of belonging to the math classroom through actions such as microaggressions and microaffirmations. Dr. Cawley is the course coordinator for co-requisite mathematics courses and the Early Start Math program director at Cal Poly Pomona.