Beth Hocking (Imperial College London) – Culture, collaboration and confidence in elite mathematics

Becoming and succeeding as an elite mathematics student involves navigating a demanding academic and cultural environment. Women and disadvantaged students are underrepresented on the mathematics courses with the highest entry requirements compared to mathematics courses more broadly, raising questions about how admissions systems operate and about the social and learning consequences for those who are admitted.

This presentation draws on my qualitative doctoral research examining access to elite mathematics courses across four universities. Through in-depth interviews with 45 participants, including students, teachers and lecturers, I develop a multi-dimensional account of how elite mathematics ability is understood, assessed and experienced within course cultures.

Using ‘ability’ as an organising concept, I show how its construction varies across the four universities, with different emphases on competition, independence and resilience. I present findings from the perspective of women participants that challenge common constructions of ‘confidence’ and highlight the importance of relational forms of resilience and the social aspects of learning.