Several independent research projects report that the enjoyment of mathematics by many
undergraduate mathematicians decreases as they progress through their degree programme
and this decrease is accompanied by increasing disillusionment and disengagement with
their course and alienation from mathematics itself. These are students who choose to study
mathematics at university and who are relatively well-qualified. Moreover, it is often the
case that students who report such feelings are not failing students – indeed many are
doing rather well. Of course, many other students find their undergraduate experience of
mathematics to be extremely rewarding but the prevalence of studies reporting disaffection
suggests that this is an issue worthy of exploration within a book on transitional issues
affecting undergraduate mathematicians.
This chapter will review the evidence for this phenomenon and unpick the reasons students
give for their changes in attitude to mathematics. After establishing the context for the
chapter we present a brief review of the literature in this field. The evidence suggests
that this state of affairs can be attributed, at least in part, to the mismatch between
students’ hopes, expectations and aspirations and the reality of learning mathematics
at university level. Sometimes, traditional pedagogies and practices can exacerbate this
situation. We will go on to provide several examples of ways in which some lecturers
and departments have attempted to modify practices in order to improve the student
experience of university mathematics. We summarise the findings of selective activities and
projects that provide pointers in the hope that they might inspire or provoke a discussion
amongst individual lecturers and more widely within departments about ways in which
disillusionment, disengagement and alienation might be ameliorated so that the experience
of undergraduate mathematics is truly rewarding for all who choose to study it
