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Yet, it has an impact wider than the journals that mathematics education research gets published in. How can we continue becoming increasingly aware of the subtle mechanisms of labeling and stereotypes which we have internalized by socialization?Īs Susanne writes, racism comes in many forms. How can we contribute to developing quality (a) by working hard with all authors (also from less privileged contexts) so that they can express their ideas in the best way possible, (b) by working hard on the editorial letters to compensate if poor reviews provide too limited support for authors, and (c) by including suggestions for references from underrepresented contexts? How can we contribute to more inclusion (a) by controlling our bias towards authors from underrepresented contexts in the journal and support the access to the international discourse for all authors, (b) by inviting reviewers from different contexts, including underrepresented countries, and (c) by making sure that authors from underrepresented countries are cited?
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How can we avoid labeling and prejudices on the basis of country or university when we consider (a) authors, (b) reviewers, and (c) people to be cited? How can we be inclusive and adhere to quality demands at the same time? Similarly to other contexts, in our editorial work, this tension means for us to keep asking ourselves: In the long run, the aim must be to reduce inequities, not only stereotypes. First: To whose mathematics experiences does the research in ESM pay attention? In other words, whose mathematics learning and teaching are considered important enough to study? Whose mathematical practices are deemed interesting? Second: Which researchers matter? Whose questions are recognized as important enough for the world to read about in ESM? The disproportionate distribution of countries of origin of published papers might be taken as an indicator that readers and contributors to ESM do value some persons’ mathematics education more than others’. When we consider these disparities and similar imbalances in other journals (Roberts, Bareket-Shavit, Dollins, Goldie, & Mortenson, 2020) and conferences, we are compelled to ask whose lives are represented most and thus whose lives may appear to matter most in mathematics education research. Mesa and Wagner ( 2019) reported on the countries of origin of contributors to ESM and raised questions about the significant disparities among the countries represented.
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For example, the dominance of English as lingua franca in worldwide academic dialog tends to oppress other traditions (Andrade-Molina, Montecino, & Aguilar, 2020 Chellougui, Nguyen Thi Thu, & Winsløw, 2016), but we can begin to change that in our corner of the wider academic community. We see that many of these issues are outside our control, such as finance and other resources, but we need to examine ourselves to identify our role in the inequities. While it is difficult to find instances of overt racism in the peer review process, it is easy to see that systemic issues in the research field favor scholars and research from some regions more than others. We want to consider the role journals in general and ESM in particular might play in sustaining racism and perpetuating inequities within the field of mathematics education within and across countries. We feel compelled to act, just like other journals (e.g., Nature: ). There is also some scholarship that identifies global disparities within mathematics education research communities (e.g., Meaney, 2013 Mesa, 2004). Much of the scholarship in mathematics education regarding racism considers ways in which mathematics education as a white institutional space and mathematics teaching practices contribute to the oppression of Black, immigrant, and Indigenous children and youths (e.g., Battey & Leyva, 2016 Khuzwayo, 2005 Martin, Gholson, & Leonard, 2010 Valoyes-Chávez, 2014).