Chapter 5: A Counter-Storytelling of Struggle and Support in Black Women’s Mathematical Talent Development and Stem Pursuits Across White, Patriarchal Spaces in Education

This chapter presents an analysis from a larger study about historically marginalized college students’ constructions of academic and social identities through narratives of their P–16 mathematics experiences. In particular, this analysis focuses on detailing experiences of struggle and support in Black women’s mathematical development through their first year at a large, predominantly white university pursuing degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Drawing on research about mathematical socialization, including work specific to Black women and girls, we conceptualize mathematical talent as developed through: (i) positive opportunities for negotiating mathematics and social identities (Walker, 2012b), (ii) access to instruction and co-curricular support with an expansive view of mathematics ability (Borum & Walker, 2011; Walker, 2012a), and (iii) strong relationships with figures of mathematical support (Borum, Hilton, & Walker, 2016). We apply my theorization of white, patriarchal space (Leyva, resubmitted) to capture how Black women’s struggle and support, respectively, reflect the operations and disruptions of racialized-gendered logics and structures while navigating P–16 STEM educational spaces. Our analysis addresses the research questions: