Diversity in Norwegian mathematics examinations, 1962–2020

Abstract

Increasingly, mathematics educators see the importance of representation of diversity in pedagogical texts. The number of identity markers often considered has increased over the previous half century, and now includes, for instance, gender, class, ethnicity, religion, functionality, and sexual orientation. We investigate representation of different identity markers in Norwegian mathematics exams in compulsory school (Grunnskolen) during the period 1962–2020. Through a quantitative content analysis of 1514 exam tasks, we gain a detailed picture of change over time. Representation in Norwegian examination tasks has improved gradually over the past half century. While representation of girls approached 50% in the 1980s, people with non-stereotypical Scandinavian names or appearances (non-white) were in the single digits until the 2000s. However, it appears that inclusion has been selective, and that some groups are still invisible. There are no clear examples of homosexuality and only two of explicitly disabled people in our material.