Building Bridges, Not Barriers: The Framework That Changes Everything
You can have the most carefully designed curriculum, the most engaging problem sets, the most student-friendly grading structure—and still lose students at the level of identity and belonging. That’s the lesson I’ve learned, again and again, teaching mathematics in spaces designed for inclusion but constrained by legacy. As someone who has taught both at a community college serving working-class students, and who now works at a premier liberal arts women’s college, I’ve seen how belonging is not just a feeling. It is an equity issue. It is about mattering. Drawing on Yosso's (2005) framework of Community Cultural Wealth, I've learned to see what students bring to the classroom differently. They arrive with:
Linguistic capital from their multilingual backgrounds
Resistant capital from challenging systemic barriers
Navigational capital from finding their way through complex institutions
Aspirational capital from their dreams and goals
Familial capital, those people in our lives - extended family included who build us up
Social capital, the friends and colleagues who network with us and are our role models
Our job isn't to "fix" students or erase these assets—it's to recognize and build from them. That is really a hard ask, especially when mathematics is often seen to be “objective” and devoid of feelings.
The Structures That Create Magic
Belonging doesn't happen by accident. It requires intentional structures that tell students: "You matter here." At Smith College, we've spent the last several years redesigning introductory courses. We've redesigned mathematics courses to see students. This seeing goes beyond knowing their names or tracking their grades. It means recognizing the full humanity they bring to our classrooms—their cultural backgrounds, their ways of knowing, their fears and aspirations. Here's what's working in our classrooms:
Daily Rituals That Build Community
Musical or Motivational Mondays: Starting the week with student-selected songs, or motivational quotes.
Would You Rather Wednesdays: Mathematical dilemmas that spark debate
Philosophical Fridays: Choice in problem-solving approaches
Assessment That Honors Growth
Revision opportunities on major assignments
Group projects with shared authorship
Classroom agreements written by students
The Art Show: Where Math Meets Identity
Perhaps our most transformative structure is the Art Show (adapted from Milos Savic's original model and brought to Smith by Candice Price). Students create artistic representations of mathematical concepts they are learning, and the results are stunning:
Stitching exponential decay into a spiral quilt honoring her grandmother's life
3D modeling of volumes of surface of integration
Composing musical pieces representing the rhythm of integration or the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
Comic strips about mathematics
This isn't extra credit—it's central to how students see themselves as mathematical thinkers.
What Students Really Want (Hint: It's Not What You Think)
Through countless conversations and feedback sessions, here's what I've learned students actually need:
Rigor without rigidity: They want to be challenged, not crushed
Space to struggle safely: Permission to not know, with support to figure it out
Recognition of their whole selves: Not just their math skills, but their cultures, languages, and experiences
Community over competition: Collaboration that lifts everyone up
As one student beautifully put it: "Your math understanding is valuable, even if it's not the same as others."
The Ripple Effect: Why This Matters Beyond the Classroom
When we create belonging in STEM spaces, we're not just improving retention rates (though we are even in a space like Smith College, where it is already high). We're:
Diversifying who gets to shape the future of technology and science
Challenging the myth that math is for a select few
Building resilient problem-solvers who support each other
Creating the conditions for innovation that comes from diverse perspectives
Looking Forward: The Work Continues
At Smith, we're scaling this approach through:
Professional conversations about pedagogy for faculty
Shared curriculum design across departments
Student-led research on belonging
Presentations at MathFest 2025 to share our findings
We don't have all the answers. But thanks to our students, we have a clearer understanding: belonging is not a bonus feature of STEM education—it's the foundation.
Your Turn: Building Belonging Where You Are
Whether you're an educator, administrator, or student, you have the power to create belonging. Start small:
Notice whose voices are missing from your conversations
Create one structure that invites authentic participation
Listen—really listen—to what students are telling you
Share your own struggles and growth in your discipline
Because at the end of the day, mathematics—like all of STEM—is a human endeavor. And humans need to belong.
What structures have helped you feel like you belong in academic or professional spaces? Feel free to message me your experiences.
References
Beasley, M. A., & Fischer, M. J. (2012). Why they leave: The impact of stereotype threat on the attrition of women and minorities from science, math and engineering majors. Social Psychology of Education, 15(4), 427–448.
Savic, M. (2017). Creativity and Calculus: The Art Show Model. University of Oklahoma.
Stringer, B. P., Moschetti, M. G., & Hernández, G. M. (2020). Honoring identity and building community in the mathematics classroom. UCSD.
Vasu, I. (2025, in preparation). Humanizing Calculus: Affective Outcomes in Liberal Arts STEM Classrooms. Smith College.
Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91.
