Fragile identities revised for GE.pdf (139.95 kB)
Dealing with ‘fragile identities’: resistance and refiguring in women mathematics students
journal contribution
posted on 2011-07-19, 10:56 authored by Yvette Solomon, Duncan Lawson, Tony CroftMany learners may be successful in mathematics but nevertheless see themselves
as existing only on the margins of the practice, or as lacking stability in it – in this
sense, they have what can be called a fragile identity. Although this kind of
relationship with mathematics is not limited to girls and women, they do appear to
express such fragile identities more often or more readily. Drawing on qualitative
and quantitative data from undergraduates in three English universities, this paper
presents an analysis of the way in which university mathematics is differentially
experienced by men and women, and of the part this may play in women’s
ongoing narratives of self as mathematicians. It is suggested that some women
resist traditional positionings in the mathematics world, drawing on local
resources which enable a sense of agency as successful students and a refiguring
of their relationships with mathematics.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Citation
SOLOMON, Y., LAWSON, D. and CROFT, T., 2011. Dealing with ‘fragile identities’: resistance and refiguring in women mathematics students. Gender and Education, 23 (5), pp. 565-583.Publisher
Routledge (© Taylor and Francis)Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2011Notes
This item was published in the jounal, Gender and Education [© Taylor and Francis]. The definitive version is available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540253.2010.512270ISSN
1360-0516;0954-0253Publisher version
Language
- en