Participation in mathematics

It is compulsory in the UK to study mathematics only up to age 16. Cathy Smith and Sue Forsythe have researched two aspects of participation. The first is about choices after age 16:  who chooses to continue with mathematics and what curricular pathways are available them? The second is about inclusion before age 16: how does mathematics function in schools, what messages are given about mathematics, and who is positioned as a mathematician? 

Our team has studied how schools can support girls’ participation in mathematics, factors that influence students’ decisions, and how different discourses of mathematics and further mathematics produce effects of class and gender exclusions.