RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Investigating GTA Beliefs That Might Reinforce Inequity in Pre/Calculus Courses
Page: 1024
In this preliminary study, we examine the beliefs of graduate teaching assistants and investigate how seemingly identity-neutral beliefs may reinforce deficit narratives in precalculus and calculus courses. Drawing on the Attributions of Mathematical Excellence (Jacobson et al., 2022), we report the analysis of one participant’s attributional beliefs and how they may explicitly and subtly reify deficit discourses. Our findings underscore the need for critical conversations about instructor beliefs regarding success and struggle in undergraduate pre/calculus. We recommend training programs provide graduate teaching assistants the opportunity to engage in reflective dialogue to identify opportunities to disrupt harmful narratives in undergraduate mathematics education.