Exploring Mathematics Anxiety in Business Mathematics Students and Its Perceived Influence on Academic Achievement in Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58197/xjcfnd88Keywords:
academic achievement, business mathematics, higher education, mathematics anxietyAbstract
Mathematics is a foundation of business education, many business students approach it with fear and low motivation. This study explored students’ experiences and sources of mathematics anxiety in Business Mathematics and their perceptions of how that anxiety affects their academic achievement. Achievement was explored as students perceive it; no grades or test scores were collected. A qualitative case study was carried out at a private higher education institution in Rwanda. Eight undergraduate students from the Faculty of Social, Economic Sciences and Business Management who were studying a mathematics module took part. Participants were purposively sampled, and recruitment stopped when the interviews were judged to provide enough information for the study objectives (code saturation). Data came from semi-structured interviews and were analysed with Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-stage thematic analysis, in which codes were grouped into themes and quotations were used only as illustrations. For the first objective, six themes emerged: persistent fear, worry, and physical tension; negative prior schooling experiences; abstract, procedural, and fast-paced teaching; fear of mistakes and judgement by peers; panic during tests and examinations; and recognition that mathematics is basic, yet low attitudes toward it. For the second objective, six further themes emerged: perceived lower test and examination performance; avoidance and withdrawal from mathematics activities; weakened self-efficacy and negative self-labelling; perceived difficulty in applied business modules; reduced persistence, confidence, and progression; and concern about workplace and field readiness. Participants held low attitudes toward mathematics even though they recognised it as basic to accounting, economics, finance, statistics and daily work tasks. The findings suggest that a contextualised, confidence-building approach to teaching Business Mathematics qualities development and testing.
References
Ashcraft, M. H. (2002). Math anxiety: Personal, educational, and cognitive consequences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(5), 181–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00196
Ashcraft, M. H., & Kirk, E. P. (2001). The relationships among working memory, math anxiety, and performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(2), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.130.2.224
Ashcraft, M. H., & Moore, A. M. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282908330580
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.
Barroso, C., Ganley, C. M., McGraw, A. L., Geer, E. A., Hart, S. A., & Daucourt, M. C. (2021). A meta-analysis of the relation between math anxiety and math achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 147(2), 134–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000307
Beilock, S. L., Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., & Levine, S. C. (2010). Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(5), 1860–1863. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910967107
Berger, R. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112468475
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis and sample-size rationales. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(2), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1704846
Carey, E., Hill, F., Devine, A., & Szűcs, D. (2016). The chicken or the egg? The direction of the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 1987. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01987
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Dowker, A., Sarkar, A., & Looi, C. Y. (2016). Mathematics anxiety: What have we learned in 60 years? Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 508. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00508
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 109–132. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135153
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2020). From expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: A developmental, social cognitive, and sociocultural perspective on motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, Article 101859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101859
Foley, A. E., Herts, J. B., Borgonovi, F., Guerriero, S., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2017). The math anxiety-performance link: A global phenomenon. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(1), 52–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416672463
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Hembree, R. (1990). The nature, effects, and relief of mathematics anxiety. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 21(1), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.2307/749455
Hennink, M., & Kaiser, B. N. (2022). Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical tests. Social Science & Medicine, 292, Article 114523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114523
Iyamuremye, E., Ndayambaje, I., & Muwonge, C. M. (2022). Perceptions of teaching approach and academic performance among senior two students in Musanze: Mediating role of mathematics anxiety and career aspiration. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 21(7), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.7.6
Iyamuremye, E., Ndayambaje, I., & Muwonge, C. M. (2023). Relationships of mathematics achievement with self-determined motivation and mathematics anxiety among senior two students in Northern Rwanda. Heliyon, 9(4), Article e15411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15411
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications.
Luneta, K., & Sunzuma, G. (2022). Instructional interventions to address mathematics anxiety in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review (1980–2020). Africa Education Review, 19(1), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2023.2201660
Maloney, E. A., & Beilock, S. L. (2012). Math anxiety: Who has it, why it develops, and how to guard against it. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(8), 404–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.06.008
Malterud, K., Siersma, V. D., & Guassora, A. D. (2016). Sample size in qualitative interview studies: Guided by information power. Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1753–1760. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315617444
McCullagh, O., Ryan, M., & Fitzmaurice, O. (2024). Mathematics anxiety in undergraduate business studies students. Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications, 43(2), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrae001
Mutodi, P., & Ngirande, H. (2014). Exploring mathematics anxiety: Mathematics students’ experiences. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 283–294. https://richtmann.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/1905
Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18(4), 315–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9029-9
Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2013). Math anxiety, working memory, and math achievement in early elementary school. Journal of Cognition and Development, 14(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2012.664593
Richardson, F. C., & Suinn, R. M. (1972). The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale: Psychometric data. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19(6), 551–554. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0033456
Saunders, B., Sim, J., Kingstone, T., Baker, S., Waterfield, J., Bartlam, B., Burroughs, H., & Jinks, C. (2018). Saturation in qualitative research: Exploring its conceptualization and operationalization. Quality & Quantity, 52(4), 1893–1907. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0574-8
Squires, A. (2009). Methodological challenges in cross-language qualitative research: A research review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(2), 277–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.08.006
Tobias, S. (1993). Overcoming math anxiety. W. W. Norton.
Warwick, J., & Howard, A. (2016). Mathematical anxiety as an inhibitor of skills development in accounting students. Mathitudes, 1(1), 1–15. https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/8756q
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
Corresponding Author
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Classroom Practices
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
