Rodd, Melissa;
Bartholomew, Hannah;
(2006)
Invisible and Special: young women’s experiences as undergraduate mathematics students.
Gender and Education
, 18
(1)
pp. 35-50.
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Abstract
This paper reports on young women students’ participation in their undergraduate mathematics degree programme: their gendered trajectory is characterised in terms of their being both ‘invisible’ in the dominant university mathematics community and yet ‘special’ in their self-conception. It draws on data collected from a three year longitudinal project investigating students’ experiences of undergraduate mathematics at two comparable traditional universities in England. Specifically, students’ narratives are interpreted as providing insights into their defensive investments in their particular ways of participating. An interpretive feminist perspective is used to claim that these young women are involved in the ongoing redefining of the gendering of participation in mathematics, and conveys how they manage to choose mathematics, and achieve in university mathematics, whilst in many respects adhering to everyday views of femininity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Invisible and Special: young women’s experiences as undergraduate mathematics students |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This paper reports gender issues from research on undergraduate mathematicians. Narrative methods are used to interpret interview texts and interviewees defensive investments in ways of participating are discussed. We argue that the young women undergraduates observed and interviewed in the project are defining a female learning persona as they participate in undergraduate mathematics. Innovative methodological approaches prompted invitation to contribute to Educational Studies in Mathematics. This is an electronic version of an article published in Rodd, Melissa and Bartholomew, Hannah (2006) Invisible and Special: young women’s experiences as undergraduate mathematics students. Gender and Education, 18 (1). pp. 35-50 Gender and Education is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/09540250500195093 |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10004291 |
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