Racism in Remediation: How Black Students Navigate Stereotypes to Achieve Success in Developmental Mathematics

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores how Black students in community college developmental mathematics navigate stereotypes about their abilities and succeed. I apply stereotype management, a conceptual framework typically used to explain how minoritized groups in K-12 settings and universities succeed despite negative labeling. Using data from a narrative study about Black students who succeeded in developmental mathematics, this study features eight participants (two females and six males) and reveals (a) implicit and explicit offenses endured from faculty and peers in math classrooms; (b) behaviors prompting management practices; and (c) strategies employed to navigate the offenses. Results suggest that despite participants’ ability to navigate discriminatory behaviors, emotional stressors shaped their perceptions about the treatment Black students withstand in these courses. Implications address negative relations between Black students and their Latinx peers and faculty and provide strategies to support students, particularly those whose mathematics abilities are questioned.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Community College Journal of Research and Practice

• Publication date

  2019-07-25

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/10668926.2019.1640143
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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