Samantha Akridge

Samantha Akridge is a Ph.D. in Education student specializing in Sociocultural and Community-based Approaches in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. During her time at UD, she plans to study how mathematics educators come to engage and maintain engagement in successful anti-oppressive work. She is currently working with Dr. Erica Litke on the National Science Foundation-funded project “Supporting Teachers to Develop Equitable Mathematics Instruction Through Rubric-Based Coaching.”

Samantha began her career as an elementary school teacher after majoring in Elementary Education at Indiana University. While at Indiana, she developed an interest in mathematics education, after disliking the subject during her own K-12 experience. After five years of teaching, she received her master’s of education in Child Studies at Vanderbilt University and is now pursuing her doctorate at UD.

Education

• M.Ed., Child Studies, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2021
• B.S., Elementary Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2014

Professional Experience

• Graduate Research Assistant, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2021–present
• Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 2020–2021
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 2020
• Graduate Research Assistant, Joseph Mathematics Education Lab, Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, 2019–2021
• Graduate Research Assistant, Little Learners Lab, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 2019–2021
• Teacher, Eisenhower Elementary School, Wauwatosa, WI, 2014–2019

Recent Honors and Awards

• Fontana Family Graduate Scholarship, University of Delaware, 2021–present
• Horace G. Hill Scholarship, Vanderbilt University, 2019–2021

Publications

• Joseph, N. M., Tyler, A. L., Howard, N. R., Akridge, S. L., and Rugo, K. The role of socialization in shaping Black girls’ mathematics identity: An analysis of the High School Longitudinal Study 2009. Teachers College Record.