I think it’s time to clear some things up. I talk about “math people” a lot. LIke a lot, a lot. I have conversations with students, with friends, with people I meet on the street or on the airplane, and even with the guy who sold me my car. Here’s how it usually goes with strangers.
Someone will ask what I do. As soon as I mention the word math it goes one of two ways. They either respond with something along the lines of “Oh, that’s awesome! Math is so important.” OR they give me a big eye roll and say something like “I never liked math. I’m just not a math person.”
Now, which one do you think happens most often? And how do you think I respond?
The honest truth…that’s kind of a redundant phrase, isn’t it? The truth is,
I don’t believe in “math people.”
For real. I don’t believe in the idea of a math person. Just like I don’t really believe some people have a beach body and others don’t. If you have a body and you go to the beach, you have a beach body. What’s happened here is we’ve allowed ourselves to be influenced into thinking we can’t wear the bathing suit unless we have a certain figure and if our bodies don’t fit that image, we feel uncomfortable at the beach at the pool. The solution? Wear what feels comfortable to you, but don’t not go to the beach just because you think you lack the proper physique. You’ll be missing out.
It requires a bit of a reframe.
When it comes to math, there are many things that have influenced your belief in yourself as a “math person” or not. If you do consider yourself a math person, it’s likely because you made good grades in math class. Maybe you always considered it fun and you enjoy solving a challenging problem. Maybe your parents and teachers encouraged you to think about math in creative ways and geve you the freedom to explore your ideas.
On the flip side, if you’ve ever uttered the phrase “I’m not a math person,” maybe you
- missed school during the time a critical foundational concept was taught and you never really learned it well.
- had a teacher who had more of a fixed mindset and thought students either understand math or they don’t.
- had a trusted adult say something to make you feel dumb when you asked a question.
- did poorly on one math test and then lost interest after that.
- had a classmate who made fun of you for not understanding something right away.
- grew up hearing your parents say they were never good at math and didn’t expect you to be either.
- really wanted to part of a certain group of people and they thought math wasn’t “cool” so you adopted that belief, too.
If any of that happened to you, I’m sorry. People only know what they know and often limit themselves and others based on their own beliefs.
That is actually why I’m here. Because I don’t want you to be limited by a belief that isn’t true and that isn’t serving you. I bet you’ve passed up at least one opportunity because you don’t believe you know enough math to be successful or because you thought it would require math.
- Did you choose your college major based on the math requirement, or lack of one?
- Did you choose not to go to college because you didn’t want to take more math?
- Did you drop out of school because you couldn’t pass the math classes?
- Did you turn down a job opportunity because you thought it required more math skills than you have?
Be honest with yourself. Maybe it isn’t obvious right away, but if you really contemplate for a bit I bet you’ll recall a situation where this was true for you. And, if you are listening to this and you already see yourself as a math person…just substitute another skill set for math, one you don’t think you are very good at, and explore that for a bit. What opportunities have you passed on or have you not even considered because of your beliefs about yourself and your capabilities?
Sometimes during a conversation where I point out to someone what they are doing actually requires math skills…like budgeting, for example. They might say, “Well, yes, I do that, but that doesn’t make me a math person.”
This happened to me recently and it kind of got me thinking that maybe what we really need is to redefine what a math person is. Yes, I said earlier that I don’t really believe in “math people.” Here’s why…
To believe that someone is a math person implies that there is someone else out there who is not.
And that is really what I don’t believe in.
Because, as I explain in episode 1 of my podcast, I See Math People (and in this blog post), math is ubiquitous. It’s everywhere. Math extends into every part of our lives. It does not just live in a classroom. It’s organizing, budgeting, creating, planning, cooking, routines, playing, navigating, shopping, building, gaming, gardening,..this list goes on and on and on.
Math is everywhere.
In nature, on Earth, in space, on land, in the sea, in the weather, in trees and flowers. It’s in reality and in imaginations. You cannot hide from it.
So, how do I think we should shift our definition of math people? To me, it’s pretty simple. To be a math person, you need to first be a person. Then you need to interact with math or with mathematical ideas in some way. Are you a person? Check. Do you interact with mathematical ideas? Check.
That makes you a math person.
To recap. Interacting with mathematical ideas is part of the human experience because math is everywhere. A “math person” is a person (a human) who interacts with math in some way. So, this means as long as you are a person, you must be a math person. There’s no other way to be.
If you are still not convinced and you keep thinking that D you earned in Algebra proves you aren’t a math person, try this on for size. That grade represents what you could demonstrate at the time. It really meant you didn’t understand it yet. Maybe you needed a little more time, a little more practice, or to see it from a different angle for things to click. That’s why I’m writing a book called “Algebra is Not the Enemy.” It will be ready to launch on October 1 of this year, 2025. It breaks down a few foundational concepts so you can see what’s really happening, dives into growth mindset, and reveals how you use algebraic thinking more than you realize. So you can start noticing when you are using it and start shifting your view of algebra and of yourself. If you’d like to be the first to know when it’s available, go to onamission.bio/jennifermasonhardin and choose “I wrote a book!” to get on the list.
If you enjoyed this post, share it with a friend. You know the one. That friend who’s always saying they aren’t a math person. They need to hear this message. And remember I always love continuing the conversation! So, ******@************pi.com“>email me or hit me up on Instagram with your thoughts and questions.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, or maybe with the intent of it, what I want to leave you with today is the idea that all it takes to be a “math person” is to be a person and to do or think math in some way, which you do every day.
