BIO

My name is Trisha Chakravarty, and I am from Jacksonville, Florida. I attended The Bolles School for all of my life before college, and have always been interested in the sciences. I am currently a sophomore in college at Florida State University studying Cell & Molecular Neuroscience, a passion of mine, and am a current participant in UROP. I enjoy research projects, and have been involved in science fair at the regional level. The research project in question for UROP is a very intriguing one for me; we analyzed the emotional dispositions of different women of color for their experience in math courses and in STEM classes, and came up with analyses of why they feel the way they do based on stereotypes and prejudices being placed on them, through a series of in-depth interviews.

The Affective Dimensions: Perceived competence and Sense of Belonging of Women and Ethnically Minoritized Students in the Transition from Secondary School to University Mathematics

Abstract

The research study’s aim involves exploring and understanding women’s and racially/ethnically minoritized students’ experiences within the United States Educational System in Mathematics, specifically regarding the transition in mathematics from secondary to university education. By analyzing cognitive, didactics, socio-cultural, and affective aspects of the answers to interview questions of college-level participants, data analysis of the research interviews was conducted to explore further in depth the factors which affect women and racially/ethnically minoritized students in STEM. Women's experiences in STEM often differ than that of their male peers. The goal of the study involved exploring the different dimensions of women’s experiences during the secondary-tertiary transition, by studying published literature reviews for background knowledge of perceived competence, emotional dispositions towards mathematics, and vision of mathematics of women in such majors. Answers of participants were analyzed to see their sense of belonging, and how academic and social support influence their confidence as well. Through conducting qualitative research through interviews of participants, including questions and weekly video reflections, data analysis could then be performed by taking transcriptions of the interviews, performing qualitative coding, reporting answers and findings, and interpreting the answers and noticing any prevalent themes surrounding them. Conclusions have not been made yet as the research study is currently in progress, but through such methods of data analysis of participants’ interviews, more concrete conclusions will be made and solidified.

Keywords: mathematics, feeling of belonging, stereotypes