Theoretical background
Mathematics Capital: From Bourdieu’s theory to equity in mathematics education
Pierre Bourdieu‘s theory of cultural and social capital (1986) provides a useful framework for conceptualizing the idea of Mathematics Capital (MC). Bourdieu argues that the educational system, rather than being a neutral field, values and rewards the types of cultural capital possessed by dominant classes. This form of advantage results in the reproduction of social inequalities, as students from more privileged backgrounds are better equipped to succeed in education.
Although Bourdieu primarily focused on cultural capital related to the arts, his framework can be extended to understand the role of cultural capital in other fields, including science. The concept of science capital, developed as an extension of Bourdieu’s work, specifically focuses on the resources and dispositions related to science that an individual possesses (Archer et al., 2015). These resources include scientific knowledge and skills, social networks with people in the scientific field, and participation in science-related practices, such as visiting science museums or reading scientific magazines (Archer et al., 2015).
Research has shown that science capital is significantly associated with science aspirations and participation in science education (Archer et al., 2015; Moote et al., 2020). For example, students with high science capital are more likely to identify as “science people” and aspire to scientific careers (Archer et al., 2015). However, it has been observed that science capital is unevenly distributed among students, with boys, white students, and those from higher social backgrounds tending to have higher levels of science capital (Moote et al., 2020).
Mathematics Capital can be conceptualised as a subset of scientific capital (Archer et al., 2015) encompassing:
- mathematical forms of cultural capital (e.g., mathematical reasoning competence)
- mathematics-related behaviours and practices (e.g., engagement with mathematics media)
- mathematics-related forms of social capital (e.g., parental mathematical knowledge)
Understanding Mathematics Capital is essential for addressing inequalities in participation and achievement in mathematics. Similar to science capital, Mathematics Capital can influence how students perceive their mathematical abilities, their future aspirations, and their likelihood of succeeding in math courses. For example, a student with high Mathematics Capital may feel more comfortable participating in math lessons, asking questions, and seeking challenges, whereas a student with lower Mathematics Capital may feel anxious or discouraged, potentially leading to lower engagement and achievement.
It is important to recognize that Mathematics Capital is not an innate or fixed trait. It can be developed and nurtured through targeted interventions and support from school, family, and society as a whole. Less conventional educational activities, such as those based on the use of memes, can engage students with diverse levels of mathematical capital, offering more inclusive and accessible learning methods. Educators and policymakers can play a key role in creating equitable and inclusive learning environments that provide all students with the resources and opportunities to develop their own Mathematics Capital.
Memes and Education: A New Language to Strengthen Participation, Learning, and Class Cohesion
An Internet meme is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “an image, a video, a text, etc., that is quickly shared among internet users, often with modifications that make it humorous.” This type of content is particularly popular among younger generations: over 50% of Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and 48% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) report regularly sending and/or viewing memes, with an average of 20-30 per day (Tama-Rutigliano, 2019; Ypulse, 2019). Even the most recent Generation Alpha (born from 2013 onwards), growing up in a digital environment, is developing a strong connection to meme culture, which is already influencing the way this generation interacts with technology, information, and learning. The spread of memes began in the early 2000s with the advent of Web 2.0 platforms, which facilitated the creation and sharing of digital images through increasingly accessible editing tools (Börzsei, 2013). As discussed by Mattoni and Ceccobelli (2018), these changes can be understood within hybrid media systems, which combine traditional media logics with emerging ones, creating new dynamics of information production and dissemination.
Over time, memes have become a collective language and a privileged means of online social interaction, capable not only of conveying complex ideas in a concise and effective way but also of facilitating negotiation and the expression of shared identities, helping to create a sense of belonging to a community or culture. As Shifman (2014) observed, memes allow individuals to share personal perspectives while remaining embedded in a social communication flow: “they allow people to be themselves, together.” The intersection between digital communication and the construction of collective identities, also observed in political and cultural contexts (Mattoni & Ceccobelli, 2018), is reflected in the use of memes to strengthen group dynamics and the sense of community, a phenomenon particularly evident in online communities that exchange mathematical memes, i.e., memes whose content incorporates mathematical ideas (Bini et al., 2023). This ability to humorously combine common cultural references with personal reflections makes memes a particularly effective means of communicating values, norms, and belonging, both individually and collectively. They allow users to position themselves relative to others, recognize themselves in communities of interest, and strengthen a sense of shared identity, but they can also create barriers for those who do not belong to that particular cultural ecosystem (Marino, 2022).
An iconic example of a meme, analysed in detail in Bini (2021), is Spiderman pointing at Spiderman (Fig. 1), originated from a scene in the 1960s animated Spiderman series. This meme depicts two identical characters pointing at each other, symbolizing situations of misunderstanding, similarity, or mutual attribution of blame. The versatility of this meme has made it extremely popular, adaptable to various contexts due to the possibility of adding personalized text that changes its meaning, ranging from personal evaluations on social media (Fig. 2) to representations of mathematical concepts (Fig. 3). The Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme is significant for our project: it inspired the creation of the logo (Fig. 4). In the logo, the two Spidermen represent ME (Meme) and MA (Mathematics), two dimensions of the project that interact to foster students’ learning and engagement. Additionally, the acronym MEMA intentionally evokes the Italian verb “memare,” a neologism that means “to create memes”, and represents the core of the project, emphasizing the centrality of the creative and participatory activity related to memes.
In educational contexts, the use of memes is progressively becoming an opportunity to make teaching activities more fun, engaging, and accessible. Several studies have explored the impact of memes on learning processes, highlighting positive effects on students’ interest in the subjects covered and their motivation. For example, memes have been successfully integrated into fields such as medicine, mathematics, and accounting, with results showing greater student participation and engagement (Abou-El-Sood, 2024; Kayali & Altuntas, 2021; Mutua & Mwangi, 2023; Shahbaz et al., 2024; Sharif et al., 2024). However, the results of the impact of memes on academic performance are mixed. In some cases, students have shown significant improvements in participation (Bini et al., 2021) or in tests (Abou-El-Sood, 2024), while in others, such as in mathematics (Mutua & Mwangi, 2023), no substantial differences have been found. This suggests that the effect of memes may vary depending on the discipline or context.
So far, research on the educational use of memes has mainly focused on student performance, neglecting other relevant factors such as the perception of class cohesion. In educational contexts, a cohesive class is characterized by a high level of cooperation and collaboration among students, who work together to achieve common goals (Leo et al., 2022). Studies on cooperative learning processes have shown that collaborative contexts produce better results than individualistic or competitive ones, both academically and personally and socially (Gillies, 2016). The potential of memes to strengthen class cohesion is clearly highlighted in studies such as Bini (2022), which show how the use of memes can promote collaborative dynamics, fostering both a sense of belonging and academic success. Furthermore, the digital platforms that accompany the educational use of memes provide spaces for interaction that, if well designed, can amplify group cohesion and the sense of belonging (Gagliani Caputo et al., 2024; Mattoni & Ceccobelli, 2018).
Memes, as an informal and shared language, can facilitate interaction among students, contributing to the creation of a collective identity and strengthening the sense of belonging to the class group. Through the use of memes, teachers can promote more cohesive group dynamics, fostering a more inclusive and stimulating learning environment. In this sense, the introduction of memes into teaching activities not only represents an opportunity to make teaching methods more engaging but can also offer a tool to address complex challenges related to cohesion and integration in contemporary classrooms, contributing to strengthening collective identity and creating more inclusive educational contexts (Bini et al., 2021; Bini, 2022; 2024).
The Meme is the Message: Empowering Students’ Voices
To understand how digital practices can affect not only the quantity but also the quality of participation, the MeMa project adopts a theoretical framework that weaves together sociological perspectives on capital with cultural and communicative approaches to mathematics. This framework is rooted in the reflections of Marshall McLuhan (1964), who argued that every technology reshapes the scale, pace, and pattern of human communication. McLuhan maintained that the message of a medium does not reside in the content it carries, but in the transformation it introduces in the very forms of relationship and participation. Applied to the educational context, this means that the introduction of digital technologies does not simply add new tools but redefines who can speak, how, and with what forms of legitimacy.
This perspective intersects with the cultural reading of mathematics education proposed by Burton (2009), who distinguishes between the culture of mathematics—centred on the internal values of the discipline, such as rigour and abstraction—and mathematical culture, which concerns the social practices that determine access to mathematical discourse. According to Burton, it is not mathematics itself that excludes, but the cultural ways in which it is taught and recognised. Acknowledging this cultural dimension allows us to question the conditions that make students’ participation possible—or, conversely, constrain it. In continuity with this perspective, Brown (2010) introduces the distinction between knowledge and truth: the former refers to codified, assessable knowledge, while the latter represents what emerges at the margins of discourse as rupture or potential renewal. In this sense, digital creation activities can foster forms of mathematical truth-telling, in which students express tensions, doubts, or insights that escape codified knowledge yet contribute to the construction of meaning.
Within this framework, the insights of McLuhan, Burton, and Brown converge in the notion of parrhesia, understood as the freedom and courage to speak openly. In educational contexts, parrhesia manifests when students find the possibility to express unconventional or marginal ideas with respect to dominant forms of mathematical discourse. In this view, the digital medium changes the conditions of communication (McLuhan), makes alternative cultural practices visible (Burton), and opens spaces where a truth can emerge that challenges codified knowledge (Brown).
Mathematical memes represent a concrete example of this convergence. They provide students with a means to express, through familiar and shared languages, what often remains implicit or unsaid within classroom practices. In this sense, the meme becomes a cultural device of parrhesia: a space where mathematics can be discussed, problematised, and made an object of collective participation—restoring voice and visibility to experiences and meanings that usually remain at the margins of mathematical discourse.