Women in STEM - why being a female maths teacher changes lives

Where did your passion for Mathematics come from?

I had a period of absence in high school and because of this I missed a lot of classwork. While trying to catch up as best I could I started teaching myself the mathematics I had missed, using the internet and textbooks I had managed to get from school. At first I was overwhelmed but once I started asking why does that work like that, rather than just accepting what I was shown and trying (and failing) to remember it, it became beautiful! Mathematics isn’t about memorising timetables and equations as much as telling a great story is about being able to spell complex words. It is, like telling a story, about creating and exploring!

What made you want to become a teacher?

‘I just can’t do maths’

This is a statement that I believe holds far greater power than those using it realise. Whether it be from a child doing their GCSEs or an adult joking amongst friends at lunch, it’s a statement normally met with a lot of nodding heads and reassurance that they are not alone in being born just as ‘incapable’ of doing any kind of mathematics. Though, if in the same instances you changed the phrase to ‘I just can’t spell’ or ‘I just can’t write’ the responses would be vastly different.

I think mathematics is beautiful like art, philosophy or music. You don’t have to be Van Gogh to see the beauty in the Mona Lisa, or a legendary composer to be able to enjoy music nor do you have to be Einstein to be able to see the beauty in a proof or to experience the joy of finally understanding a problem. It genuinely makes me sad whenever I hear someone lament that they just can’t do maths, as a teacher I want to show them that mathematics can be something to be enjoyed rather than something to be scared of.

Plus, it’s very nice to have a job where I get to talk about something I’m so interested in all the time!

What challenges have you been faced with on your STEM journey?

At school I had a lot of people assume that the males in a room are better at maths then me or my female peer because “of course they are”. It was always funny to see their response when we got better grades than them.

I have seen this same sentiment in higher education and even the world of work, it’s always so disheartening but it is all the more reason to prove this sentiment wrong!

What advice would you give someone, especially a female who wants to pursue a career in STEM?

I know everyone has the ability to do well in mathematics whether they love the subject or could use the skills learnt later in life. After all no one is born knowing how to find the area of a circle!  I’ve heard stories from people, who have been limited by their mathematics whether it be developing a fear of it or struggling with the mathematics content of their respective course or career. This often stems from the fear and alienation which is brought on by how society on a whole often views mathematics and how it has been presented to them in the past. But if you ask people who love the subject or even look online you will find so much artistry and beauty.

Please don’t ever get disheartened if you struggle no one has an innate ability any better than yours. Please don’t get disheartened if you feel you don’t fit in with other people that enjoy the same subjects.

STEM (especially mathematics) has always been incredibly diverse, since it is about the ideas you put into the world not who you are that counts!

Some great examples of Mathematicians:

• Ada Lovelace (AKA the first computer programmer!)
• Katherine Johnson (AKA the mathematician that put us one the moon!)
• Sofia Kovalevskaya (first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics and the first woman in Europe to become a full-time professor) ((plus has an amazing quote: “It is impossible to be a mathematician without being a poet in soul.”))
• Emmy Noether (didn’t like maths at all when she was young, went on to become one of the most influential mathematicians of all time!)
• Julia Robinson (despite missing two full years of school due to illness she still became an amazing mathematician and has a brilliant quote: “I like to think of mathematicians as forming a nation or our own without distinctions of geographical origin, race, creed, sex, age, or even time…all dedicated to the most beautiful of the arts and sciences.”)

How do you think STEM can encourage students?

It’s hard not to be encouraged by stem, whether you want to find out more about the world around you and how it works; learn the language the universe speaks in; or want to create something entirely unique. It’s in STEM, it’s so universal it can be hard to get away from.

What is one Huge Small Victory you’ve had during your time at Bescot Hall School?

I have had a student come to me to ask about maths not during lesson time! They came to me with things they wanted to learn about and wanted to chat about outside of class!

Inspiring quotes from female mathematics I wanted to add:

Figuring out what you want comes from failing, and then trying again. It comes from questioning everything, falling in love, fighting the power, living without limits. It doesn't come from getting straight A’s, playing by the rules, and listening obediently.

-Valerie Thomas

The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.

-Maryam Mirzakhani

Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.

-Mae Carol Jemison

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