A Critical Look at Undergraduate Mathematics Classrooms: Detailing Racialized and Gendered Experiences for Latin@ College Engineers (original) (raw)

Latin@s demonstrated an increase of nearly 75% in engineering degree completion over the last 15 years (National Science Foundation, 2015). However, Latin@s remain largely underrepresented across STEM disciplines with scholars calling for analyses of their undergraduate education experiences to improve retention (Cole & Espinoza, 2008; Crisp, Nora, & Taggart, 2009). With calculus as a gatekeeper into advanced STEM courses, undergraduate mathematics must be examined as a social experience for underrepresented populations including Latin@s. This report presents findings from a phenomenological study on mathematics success as a gendered and racialized experience among five undergraduate Latin@ engineering students at a large, predominantly white institution. In light of recent calls for equity considerations in undergraduate mathematics education (Adiredja, Alexander, & Andrews-Larson, 2015; Rasmussen & Wawro, under review), this report focuses on the Latin@ students’ classroom experiences with implications for broadening Latin@s’ and other underrepresented groups’ access to high-quality, supportive learning in undergraduate mathematics.