This past Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a segment called “Teens Surprise Math World with Pythagorean Theorem trigonometry proof.” Ne’Kiya Jackson and Celcea Johnson, seniors at all-girls St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans, had potentially solved (the paper has yet to be peer-reviewed) a 2000-year-old math problem. When they presented it at the American Mathematical Society conference, “it blew up,” Ne’Kiya says. Their accomplishment has received international attention.
As I watched the interview, I appreciated Ne’Kiya’s response to people’s surprise at what two African-American girls had achieved. She said, “I’d like to actually be celebrated for what it is. Like, it’s a great mathematical achievement.”
We get it, and WISER celebrates you, Ne’Kiya and Celcea, for this achievement! We celebrate all the young women (and not-so-young women) for whom the math is mathing.
We also celebrate the women who will graduate this year with degrees in mathematics and statistics. Last year, 2 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 2 percent of master’s degrees, and 0.3 percent of doctorates were awarded to Black women (see Table 1).
Table 1. Mathematics and Statistics Degree Conferred in 2022
She gets it from her mother
Research suggests that a mother’s education level significantly influences the child’s educational achievement. As more women are single mothers and/or the primary earners for their families, their educational attainment has implications for intergenerational mobility.
Additionally, a mom’s perspective on math can affect a child’s perspective. A study of sixth graders found that mothers may transfer their math anxiety to their children. This is important in a society where math proficiency is a key to participation in growing tech fields.
Table 2 provides the occupations women with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics hold. The frequency of these women being teachers, professors, and STEM occupations has me hopeful about the next generation. I hope that little girls will see themselves in these positions because they have a role model at home and that little boys will not question if a “girl” can do math because his mother is competent in math.
Table 2. Top Occupation of Women With Bachelor’s Degrees in Mathematics
A vision of success
In the 60 Minutes episode, Pamela Rogers, the interim principal at St. Mary’s Academy, said, “People have a vision of who can be successful. And to some people, it is not always an African-American female. And to us, it’s always an African-American female.” WISER applauds the perspective that high-achieving Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous women aren’t an anomaly.
