Dealing with mathematical anxiety: Should one size fit all?

Many students who have to study mathematics as an enabling subject within higher education experience mathematical anxiety to a greater or lesser extent. This affliction can impact student learning and achievement in mathematics and so a number of strategies have been suggested for alleviating mathematical anxiety or at least moderating its effects. This paper reports on a comparison of the mathematical anxiety experienced by two groups of students each studying a different subject discipline. The results indicate that the groups have quite different levels of anxiety and the differing contributing factors between the groups suggest that approaches to remediation need to be tailored to reflect these factors.