Example of Meritocracy as a Myth

Black and Latin students face oppression, racial and gendered, in STEM higher education (including mathematics).

Introductory mathematics courses (precalculus and calculus) act as gatekeepers for these Black and Latin students.

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Instructor Bias/Authority

Juan faces racial stereotyping about intelligence from his instructor. Slow problem-solving and racial stereotypes of ability position the instructor in a way that makes Black and Latine students seem lacking in rigor.

Juan said:

“I felt put down. It just shocked me . . . Yeah, I know I’m not doing it quickly, but I know how to do it. Just because I’m not doing it fast enough to your liking, I’m not stupid.”

Juan also said:

“Say, there was a white group who is doing it slowly and then say there’s a Hispanic or Black group doing it slowly, I feel like he’s going to say that [remark] only if that one group of Hispanics or Blacks were doing it slowly. But if the white group was doing it, I feel like he wouldn’t come down harder as much . . . Because STEM is a rigorous thing . . . It’s like you have to be smart for that . . . Hispanics and Blacks are usually targeted as not as bright as whites”

A lot of racial stereotyping is involved, but specifically, the tiny things are being used against minorities. For example, being “slow” at problem-solving is used against minorities by instructors.

Policy

Higher education should reassess “weed-out” policies in math departments, such as difficult exams and grading curves. Programs supporting underrepresented students in math can go against exclusionary practices.

“First, higher education policy should marshal institutions to reexamine infrastructures in mathematics departments that support the weedout logic. One possibility is reforming assessment policies (e.g., exam difficulty, grading on a bell curve) that function as mechanisms of academic hazing, separating those ‘cut out’ for STEM from those who are not.”

“An example is University of Arizona’s five-day undergraduate calculus summer workshop for students of color embedded with ‘critical conversations,’ or structured dialogues on issues of race and gender related to mathematical success and pursuing STEM majors.”

Programs are deemed helpful, and students can have a chance to improve.

Recommendations for Departments/Instructors

Instructors should be trained in critical instruction, and it can be seen if these teaching practices reinforce systemic inequalities.

Departments should collect student feedback.

Teaching evaluations should have equity-focused criteria to hold accountability for inclusive teaching.

“Evaluations should be taken seriously in annual review and promotion processes to incentivize instructors’ development of critically-conscious, self-reflective instruction and reward faculty efforts to promote equity that may have previously gone unnoticed.”