The decolonisation of mathematics

TL;DR

This paper reviews the decolonisation of mathematics, challenging the universalist view, and examines systemic racism in UK mathematics education and academia, highlighting potential benefits and evidence of discrimination.

Contribution

It provides a systematic review of literature on decolonising mathematics and analyzes empirical evidence of systemic racism in UK higher education.

Findings

Potential benefits of teaching the history of mathematics.

Evidence of discrimination in academic representation.

Challenges to the universalist approach in mathematics.

Abstract

We describe a mainstream "universalist" approach to the understanding of mathematics. We then conduct a systematic (but not exhaustive) review of the academic literature on the decolonisation of mathematics and identify how this challenges the universalist view. We examine evidence of whether the experience of mathematics in the UK is systemically racist, examining both the decolonial arguments and the empirical evidence. We find that there may be some benefit in teaching the history of mathematics, but that this should be weighed against the opportunity cost. We find some prima-facie evidence of discrimination in the descriptive statistics on the representation of ethnic minorities in academic roles in UK higher education.