Mathematics, Science, and Statistics Anxiety Across Learners and Educators: Cognitive, Affective, and Educational Perspectives

[Mathematics Education Researchers (MER) community]

This collection invites original research, theoretical contributions, and reviews on mathematics, science, and statistics anxiety, both in students across educational stages and in educators such as mathematics and science teachers. While mathematics anxiety—characterized by feelings of tension, apprehension, or fear that interfere with performance—has received substantial attention, science and statistics anxiety remain comparatively underexplored, particularly in relation to educators and the reciprocal dynamics between teacher and student anxiety.

This collection aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between psychology, education, and cognitive science to better understand how anxiety related to mathematics, science, and statistics develops, persists, and affects learning and teaching processes. We welcome contributions that address, among other topics: the cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying these forms of anxiety; developmental trajectories from early education to higher education; socio-affective factors such as self-efficacy, stereotype threat, and parental or teacher attitudes; and neurocognitive or psychophysiological correlates of subject-specific anxiety.

Particular interest will be given to studies exploring how teachers’ own anxiety in mathematics, science, or statistics influences their instructional practices, assessment strategies, and student outcomes. Also encouraged are intervention studies aimed at reducing such anxieties and fostering resilience and confidence in both students and educators.

We seek submissions from diverse methodological traditions, including experimental, longitudinal, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Studies with cross-cultural or cross-level perspectives (e.g., comparing primary vs. secondary vs. tertiary education, or pre-service vs. in-service teachers) are especially welcome.

By bringing together psychological and educational research on mathematics, science, and statistics anxiety, this collection aims to advance our understanding of their causes and consequences and to inform evidence-based strategies for more supportive, anxiety-aware learning environments in STEM education.

Keywords: Mathematics anxiety; Mathematics education; Teacher anxiety; Student affect; Educational psychology; Science education; Emotion and cognition; Teacher beliefs; Statistics education; STEM education.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3 and SDG 4.

Submission deadline31 January 2026
More https://link.springer.com/collections/eijdgfccch