Speaker Series
Math Anxiety: Who Has It, Why It Develops, and How to Guard Against It
Date+Time
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The MƒA Thursday Think Speaker Series brings accomplished speakers who dive into cutting-edge topics in STEM education to MƒA. These talks, held once a month throughout the school year, invite MƒA teachers and the general public to learn and engage with these thought leaders and professionals in mathematics, science, and education.
Basic math skills are important for success in school and everyday life. Yet many people experience apprehension and fear when dealing with numerical information, termed math anxiety. Perhaps not surprisingly, math anxiety is associated with poor math performance. In this talk, Sian Beilock explores the cognitive, neural, and social antecedents and consequences of math anxiety, revealing some surprising insights into its onset, risk factors, and elimination.
Dr. Sian Beilock is the eighth President of Barnard College at Columbia University, the premier institution for empowering women to change the world. Prior to her appointment, Beilock served at the University of Chicago as Executive Vice Provost, an officer of the university, and the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology. She is one of the world’s leading experts on the brain science behind “choking under pressure” and the brain and body factors influencing all types of performance: from test-taking to public speaking to your golf swing. Beilock has authored two critically acclaimed books—Choke and How the Body Knows Its Mind—and over 100 peer-reviewed publications. Her 2018 TED Talk has been viewed over two million times. She has won eight major awards from national and international societies devoted to psychology, sport psychology, and education. Beilock earned her B.S. in cognitive science from the University of California, San Diego, and doctorates of philosophy in both kinesiology and psychology from Michigan State University.