We’re here to change that!
Women in Mathematics Day is May 12, in honor of Maryam Mirzakhani, who was born on this day in 1977. She’s the only woman so far to have won the top award in mathematics, the Fields Medal. But she surely won’t be the last.
While we at Carnegie Learning provide solutions in multiple subjects, such as math, literacy, and world languages, our first love was math. And from day one, our math instructional design team has been led by female math educators who are driven by the firm belief that every student is a capable math learner—including girls!
Here are two women in mathematics education to show the girls in your classrooms and communities that they do have a place in mathematics-related fields. They might just be the next Chief Mathematics Officer at an education company or even the next Fields Medalist.
Deidre is a 6th grade math teacher in Texas, has 1.4 million followers as a math content creator on TikTok as @the_mrskelly, and is one of our MATHstream instructors.
What I find most rewarding about my work is my students. I love teaching concepts that are used in the real world so students can understand the world. I love the lightbulb moments, the growth, the setbacks that make for comebacks, and the relationships I build.
One of the most rewarding things is the moment a past student reaches out to me to tell me about their life and how I’ve made an impact on them. It makes me wonder how many other students I can make a positive impact on, and it makes this job so much easier for me.
We can encourage more women and girls to pursue math-related fields by empowering them and giving them role models that are also in the field. To our female students, I want to say, keep going! Don’t get discouraged. Find your why; find your purpose.
Phonisha is the Middle School Math Specialist at Spring Independent School District, and she shares replicable successes from her middle school math program in the video series Off the Page Tuesdays on our accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
One thing that motivates me is to lighten up the path for our teachers and coaches. I’m always pushing myself to make sure professional learning is always engaging and relatable. I stretch my creativity so that our teachers don’t have to sit through something they’ve already seen or find absolutely boring.
Deciding to become a teacher is not for the faint of heart. Being a middle school math teacher takes a special kind of person, and if you decide to embark upon 7th grade math, you’ve secured your spot in heaven!
It’s important to highlight the work of women in math—education, engineering, medicine, science, and corporate America. Our girls need to see our success but most importantly, they need to see themselves in the work we do in math-related careers.
Just this morning as I walked into a 4th grade classroom preparing for testing, a little girl asked me who I was. When I told her what I do, she said, “So you really do all of the middle school math?” She saw me. Maybe she saw herself in me. I may never see her again, but she saw me, and that’s enough for me.
As we celebrate Women in Mathematics Day, we’re inspired by women in math education like Deidre Kelly, Phonisha Hawkins, and Yirah Valverde. The future is bright with tomorrow’s leading mathematicians in such hands as these.
Let’s continue to give girls the confidence and opportunities to pursue their dreams in mathematics!