Examining Black and Latine Students’ Sense of Belonging within the Mathematics Classroom: A Narrative Review

Abstract Academic environments that support a sense of belonging, or students’ feelings of being included, valued, accepted, and supported, are positively associated with students’ engagement, persistence, and academic achievement. This is particularly true for Black and Latine adolescent students in U.S. mathematics classrooms. Research has also shown that students’ sense of belonging is a situated, malleable construct that can fluctuate throughout the school day. This narrative review examines how the dynamic nature of belonging interacts with the complex consideration of adolescent Black and Latine students’ ethnicity, race, and culture within the context of mathematics. We advance three considerations for researchers when investigating and supporting the belonging experiences of Black and Latine students within mathematics: Contextual Factors that Shape Sense of Belonging to Mathematics, Positionality and Framing of Investigations of Belonging, and Recognizing the Whole Student. By critically examining the educational contexts in which Black and Latine adolescent students engage with mathematics, alongside the prevailing frameworks and assumptions adopted in research studies, researchers are more likely to adopt a holistic perspective toward these students. Consequently, this approach fosters the production of research findings that affirm and enhance, rather than undermine, Black and Latine students’ sense of belonging within mathematical learning environments. Recommendations for research and practice are also shared.