| NSF Org: |
OSI Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1649365 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
James Matthew Douglass
mdouglas@nsf.gov (703)292-2467 OSI Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $299,024.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $299,024.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2200 VINE ST # 830861 LINCOLN NE US 68503-2427 (402)472-3171 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
203 Avery Hall Lincoln NE US 68588-0130 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES, EPSCoR Co-Funding |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
Mathematics is the foundation of many STEM fields and success in mathematics is a catalyst for success in other scientific disciplines. Increasing the participation of women and other under-represented groups in the mathematics profession builds human capital that produces a diverse pool of problem solvers in business and industry, research mathematicians, faculty at all levels, and role models for the next generation. Existing support and enrichment programs have targeted women in mathematics at different stages in their undergraduate and graduate education, with different strategies to building community, creating a sense of belonging, and promoting a growth mind set. These strategies challenge some of the most common obstacles to success, including isolation, stereotype threat, not committing to mathematics early enough, and imposter syndrome. Acknowledging the diversity among women in terms of socio-economic background and educational background, this project proposes to examine the effectiveness of these programs through the lens of two primary questions: (1) Which elements of these programs are most critical in the success of women, as a function of their position along these distinct diversity axes?, and (2) which features of these programs are most effective as a function of the stage of the participant's career? These questions are guided by the rationale that a better understanding of, and improved pathways by, which programs recruit and retain undergraduate and graduate women in mathematics has the strong potential to increase the representation of women among mathematics PhDs nationwide.
This project seeks to increase and diversify the number of professional mathematicians in the United States by identifying and proliferating best practices and known mechanisms for increasing the success of women in mathematics graduate programs, particularly women from under-represented groups. The PIs on this proposal, all of whom are leaders of initiatives that have been active for nearly two decades, will work with experts in management, data collection and reporting, and communications to address the following three challenges: (1) develop a common system of measuring the effectiveness of each element in these initiatives; (2) develop a process for effective, collective decision making; and (3) create connections between existing activities and resources. This project is both exploratory research and effectiveness research. The project team first will explore the contextual factors that serve to support or inhibit female pursuit of mathematics doctorates by interviewing a variety of women who were undergraduate mathematics majors in the past, as well as current professional mathematicians. They then will use this information to better understand the most effective features of various current and past initiatives that are trying to increase the participation of women in advanced mathematics. A key stakeholder meeting will develop a process for effective, collective decision-making, to utilize what the project team learns from the interviews. The leadership team will develop a website with discussion board and social media components to highlight best practices and facilitate a virtual community for women interested in mathematics. Finally, a distillation of program elements and their targeted effectiveness will inform the selection of interconnected activities to test on a scalable model. These prototypes will be implemented at several sites chosen to represent a diversity of constituencies and local support infrastructure.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
WATCH US (Women Achieving Through Community Hubs in the US) was funded through the NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot mechanism, and is focused on better understanding programs that successfully broaden the participation of women in the mathematical sciences. The WATCH US partnership focuses nationwide on increasing the percentage of women entering and succeeding in graduate school in the mathematical sciences. The demographics of mathematics Ph.D. recipients in the United States fail to reflect the demographics of the country. Women are underrepresented in graduate degrees earned, postdoctoral fellowships and tenured academic positions. Percentages decrease at each successive level; thus role models for women are scarce.
Our broadening participation challenge: The mathematics community must: (a) increase the percentage of U.S. women entering and succeeding in graduate school in the mathematical sciences, and
(b) increase the number of Ph.D.-level mathematicians from underrepresented groups more generally.
WATCH US had three primary objectives to achieve these goals, to, 1) create connections between existing broadening participation activities and resources, 2) develop a process for effective, collective decision making at the national level in the mathematics community, 3) develop a common system of measuring effectiveness of program initiatives to broaden participation in mathematics.
In order to achieve objective 1, WATCH US held a stakeholders meeting at UNL in June 2017, this allowed us to connect a broad array of leaders in the national mathematical science community across the spectrum of academia, industry, and NSF. A collective impact evaluation of stakeholders in the mathematics community that was also conducted in 2018, we found that stakeholders feel connected to others in the mathematics community who are dedicated to broadening participation of women and underrepresented groups, and attending the June 2017 meeting significantly increased feelings of connection; however, stakeholders struggle with how to work with the mathematics community to broaden participation. Based on these findings, and from a series of stakeholder qualitative interviews, The PI team created best practices guides that were disseminated at the January 2019 JMM meetings. These guides are also available on the WomenDoMath.org website.
The website, WomenDoMath.org was also created as a part of this grant to achieve objective 1; it is a one-stop shop of mathematics related media, events, and activities with a focus on inclusion of women of color. It includes a map and calendar of upcoming events and resources aimed at diversifying mathematics, online videos including the Mathematics Association of America (MAA) Distinguished Lecturer Series featuring women and a link to the video series of “Faces of Women in Math” and “Meet a Mathematician”, links to Association of Women in Mathematics (AWM) travel grant applications, links to the Mathematically Gifted and Black website, and news relevant to the mathematics community. Drop down menus provide resources for students in the mathematical sciences for K-12, undergraduate (including links to AWM chapters), and graduate students. The website also features dozens of resources for teachers and students at every level within the mathematical sciences. There is also a drop down menu for educators across K-16 and beyond, including links to resources and links from the: Association of Mathematics Teacher Education, National Council of Teachers in Mathematics, The Global Math Project, NRICH - For Math Teachers and Students, The Math Circles for Teachers Network, Park City Math Institute, Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Teachers, and more. The website also contains information about the NSF INCLUDES WATCH US grant team, and research reports from the social science research projects funded by the grant. See it all at: http://WomenDoMath.org
In order to achieve objectives 2 and 3, we conducted social science research using quantitative and qualitative data to assess how programs worked to increase the proportion of women with advanced degrees in the mathematical sciences. Results from this research were presented at the June 2017 stakeholder and were used to create a standardized measurement tool. In the fall of 2017, an RFP was created in order to fund prototype projects across the country that focused on broadening participation in the mathematical sciences. Altogether, 21 projects were funded for a total of $64,803 dollars. Funding amounts ranged from $2,000 dollars to $4,875, the average awarded amount was $3,085 dollars. The assessment tools that were created were then piloted with the funded prototype projects in year two in order to create a more comprehensive assessment and evaluation of mathematics programs aimed at increasing underrepresented minorities in STEM.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Last Modified: 01/23/2020
Modified by: Judy L Walker
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