Revealing Luz: Illuminating Our Identities Through Duoethnography

Hispanic Americans make up 15% of the current US workforce, but they only account for 7% of the STEM Education workforce [8]. One effective way to reach this population, particularly Latinas, is by providing stories and ethnographic biographies of successful Latinas they can relate to. It is important to note that Latinas have been earning Ph.D.s in STEM disciplines outside of the US much longer than US-born Latinas have been earning them inside. Thus we offer the story of a mathematics educator from Peru, Dr. Luz Antonia Mendizaabal Gaalvez de Rodriguez, a girl who was given a chance to be educated, and whose education opened doors for her and for those she influenced. She earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education while raising eight children and working fulltime, and later in life became the school superintendent in Lima, awarded a prestigious national award for her teaching and service. Through a narrative that is part biography and part duoethnography, we chronicle milestones in her journey and explore the intersections of her life with the lives of two other USborn mathematics educators, ourselves. We conclude with some thoughts on revising the storyline by presenting new narratives to empower our communities.