Q: What are some of the underlying causes or factors that contribute to maths anxiety in students in your opinion? 

For teachers, a key part of our roles is sharing our love for our subject and inspiring the new generation, yet we’re faced with many students struggling with maths anxiety. Although causes vary from student to student, there do seem to be some common trends. 

Key considerations include attitudes towards maths at home, in the classroom and on social media. For example, how do their teachers and families respond to making mistakes in maths? It’s also important to consider the mathematical experiences of students at home and in the classroom; is the focus on numbers and recall or exploration and discovery?

Maths is really everywhere, I think, and there are lots of ways to access it. Many problems in our society now require maths to be solved.  

Maths can also help students understand the world more, for example when they’re thinking about finances; budgets and taxes. Even for life at home, it helps develop problem-solving skills and increase creativity.  

As of March 2022, women made up 16.5% of all engineers in the UK, compared to the 10.5% reported in 2010¹. While we may be tempted to say the jump from 1 in 10 engineers being women to 1 in 7 shows progress, these figures still reflect the fact that the number of female engineering students persistently sits below 20% in higher education (HE). Much has been written about the myriad ways in which people have tried to address this issue and yet stubbornly these statistics – and their impact upon minority groups – prevails.