Is social media use for math learning beneficial for ethnic minority students' math identity? A socialization perspective

Although the educational potential of social media has been widely acknowledged, it remains unclear whether social media use might present opportunities for the development of math identity. This study drew on the socialization framework of math identity to examine the relationships between social media use for math learning, bicultural identity integration, ethnic-math beliefs and math identity among ethnic minority high school students in China. Structural equation modelling results showed that (a) social media use was positively related to math identity; (b) high bicultural identity integration was positively associated with math identity, while biased ethnic-math beliefs were negatively related to math identity and (c) social media use suppressed the socialization process of math identity, weakening the maladaptive roles of low bicultural identity integration and biased ethnic-math beliefs in shaping math identity. Our findings highlight the beneficial role of social media use in student math learning. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic What this paper adds Implications for practice and/or policy Social media use for learning is associated with students' academic motivation, engagement and academic achievement. Social media use may have affordances for identity development, especially for ethnic minorities. The formation of ethnic minority students' math identity is intertwined with their math and ethnic socialization. Social media use for math learning was directly and positively related to ethnic minorities' math identity. This study quantitatively confirmed the associations of bicultural identity integration and ethnic-math beliefs with math identity. Social media use suppressed the relations of bicultural identity integration and ethnic-math beliefs with math identity. Promoting social media use for math learning benefits ethnic minority students' math identity. Social media use for math learning could alleviate the maladaptive role of low bicultural identity integration and biased ethnic-math beliefs in math identity development. Ethnic minority students' math identity socialization processes merit attention.