Growing up, Jo gravitated towards mathematics and science. Eventually, she developed the aspiration of becoming an educational psychologist. As educational psychologists are required to teach for a couple of years, she chose to teach mathematics and became fascinated by people’s mathematical thinking and reasoning. Those experiences encouraged her to pursue a master’s in mathematics education. Currently, Jo serves as a Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. She is also the co-founder of YouCubed, an organization aimed at empowering students to have an open and creative mathematical mindset. Her relentless drive and resilience have empowered me in several ways. I came across her work when I was in fourth grade, and she completely changed my perspective on learning. She is someone I have looked up to for almost a decade, and I am so honored to have interviewed her.
What was a key decision you made that helped you get to where you are today?
I conducted a study in England that had received several national awards, and I was attacked by several traditional mathematicians. I followed students through different teaching approaches, and I found that kids who leaned more actively did better than those who just sat and listened to lectures. After I arrived here, a mathematics professor at Stanford told me not to talk about my research. His reasoning was that teachers could not understand my study. I was confused, but I carried on. I conducted another study here where I followed students through four years of high school and I found the same results: students who were actively engaged received better scores. He disliked my research and accused me of academic misconduct. This was a serious claim as it had the potential to end my career. I gave all of my data to the University to analyze. Soon after, they realized there was no case and the investigation ended. So, the mathematician published these claims on a website and worked with others who also were opposed to these changes in schools.
Due to these claims, I resigned from my role at Stanford and moved back to England for three years. Stanford kept asking for me to return, and I decided to come back. There was a new Dean at the University, and he read what the mathematician had written about me online. He encouraged me to publish my experience online. On a Friday night, I typed out how these mathematicians had affected me. I also tweeted a link of what I wrote, which became the most tweeted story that weekend. I was contacted by many reporters, and there were several newspaper articles written about it. Soon, I began to receive hundreds of letters from women scientists about academic bullying by people, primarily men, who were trying to shut down their work. I spoke at the National Conference for Math Educators about my experiences and several attendees spoke up about how people had come after them. Kathy, my co-worker, always tells me how I should send flowers to these mathematicians because of how they helped us amplify our message. More people have read our work and heard about our message. At the end of the day, everything works out. However, at the moment, it was incredibly devastating for me.
What advice would you give your former self?
Keep going even if people are telling you that you cannot do something. I had a physics teacher who told us that boys were more capable of physics than girls. He told the boys to take the higher exam, and the girls to take the easier exam. My mother was quite frustrated and ensured that I could also take the higher exam. I ended up receiving an A on the final exam. But, I dropped physics because I did not want to deal with my teacher anymore. So many people I know have changed their pathways because someone told them they could not do something. I was susceptible to other people telling me I could not do something, and I completely believed it.
Who do you look up to?
I admire Téa Leoni, who is an actress on Madame Secretary. She plays the Secretary of State, and I love the part she plays and the way she leads a team of people. As a person, she is very involved in Unicef and I really admire the way she lives her life. I also really admire Maryam Mirzakhani, who was an incredible mathematician and the first woman to win the field medal for mathematics. She was a very visual and incredible thinker. Her 7th-grade teacher told her that she would not be able to succeed at maths. She was an extraordinary woman and a professor here at Stanford.
What inspired you to create YouCubed?
I was helping out at Udacity, a company whose mission is to create online courses accessible to all, and I became inspired to create my own online class. After I released it, 30,000 mathematics teachers took my course from over 300 cities, and I started to get a lot of emails asking if there was more curriculum. So, that was how YouCubed was born. I went to dinner with a friend where we scribbled names on a napkin. Eventually, we came up with YouCubed.
What advice do you have for others who aspire to be trailblazers like you?
You have to reject stereotypes and have a growth mindset. You need to be armed with knowledge because people will doubt you and your skill-set. It is so important to believe in yourself. Having a growth mindset will automatically remove several obstacles.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
The majority of people have a broken relationship with mathematics. I have taught a lot of students who were, originally, traumatized by math. However, I also have a lot of high achieving students who think it is a subject filled with methods that need to be memorized. They have never experienced the beauty of math or the creativity behind it. Several students have the wrong idea of the subject and my goal is to change their ideas. We need to immerse people in mathematics differently to change their perspectives.
