Abandoning mathematics. Reconstructing the process in the context of the social perception of mathematics

Mathematics, as no other school subject, evokes conflicting emotions and contradictory attitudes – from “the gate to a career” and “the queen of science” to the widespread acceptance of mathematical ignorance in society. The process of studying mathematics requires systematic work and patience, as mathematical knowledge has a cumulative nature. In the case of mathematics education, some students abandon mathematics at quite early levels of education and begin to consider themselves “humanists”, which results in serious consequences for future educational and career choices. In this paper, I propose a description of the process of escaping from mathematics in the context of students’ perceptions of this subject, using the results of two studies – one qualitative and the other quantitative.