Search results

(1 - 1 of 1)
Identity and Self-Efficacy Among Mathematically Successful African American Single Mothers in Urban Community College Contexts
Title
Identity and Self-Efficacy Among Mathematically Successful African American Single Mothers in Urban Community College Contexts
Creator
Devi, Shavila
Date
2019
Description
This dissertation is a phenomenological, multi-case study of 13 mathematically successful African American single mothers from two urban...
Show moreThis dissertation is a phenomenological, multi-case study of 13 mathematically successful African American single mothers from two urban community colleges in Chicago. While a number of recent studies have focused on Black girls and women in K-12 and university contexts, the community college context remains understudied despite the presence of large numbers of Black women. Moreover, there has been a tendency in mainstream research contexts to normalize failure, and focus on problematic aspects of being a Black single mother or being a Black mathematics learner. Bringing together considerations of identity (racial, mathematics, single mother) and mathematics self-efficacy, this study will be the first to focus on mathematically successful African American single mothers in the community college context. The following research questions guided the research for this dissertation:1. How do African American single mothers, who return to study mathematics at the community college and are successful in their courses, narrate their identities and life experiences around race, gender, mathematics learning, and being a mother?2. How do these women score on the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and what sources of and influences on their self-efficacy are reported by these women via interviews? 3. What other factors (intrapersonal and beyond) do these women report as being particularly salient in their mathematics success?Multiple forms of data–semi-structured interviews, pre-and-post responses to a widely-used mathematics self-efficacy survey, and mathematics artifacts–were collected to address the research questions. A cross-case analysis of the data revealed four themes that emerged across the 13 participants. Within-case analyses of three participants reveals how the themes play out in-depth for these women. The four themes are (1) strong counter-narratives of being a single mother that resisted dominant and deficit-oriented discourses; (2) education as a key tool and resource to manage and mitigate risks associated with single motherhood; (3) multifaceted stories of resilience to achieve success in mathematics and life; and (4) positive, success-oriented mathematics identities and positive math self-efficacy. This study contributes to an emerging success-oriented literature on Black women and mathematics, and a growing research literature on identity in mathematics education. In surfacing how the participants narrate and negotiate race, gender, and class, this dissertation also contributes to an emerging literature on intersectionality in mathematics education. Results from this study can inform community college administrators and faculty in crafting practice and policy to support African American single mothers in mathematics.
Show less