Preface to “Moving Towards a Feminist Epistemology of Mathematics”

Abstract

In “Moving towards a feminist epistemology of mathematics,” Leone Burton (1995/2008) argued for a feminist epistemology that is parallel to the epistemologies of other STEM fields, but a case unto itself because of the nature of mathematics. Her proposal defined knowing in mathematics in relation to five categories including social relatedness, the aesthetics of mathematical thinking, intuition and insight, recognition and celebration of different approaches and ways of thinking, and global applications. These categories incorporate processes mathematicians employ as well as the experience of the learner in constructing mathematical meaning.