NSF Org:	DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Initial Amendment Date:	August 19, 2021
Latest Amendment Date:	August 19, 2021
Award Number:	2141578
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Mike Ferrara mferrara@nsf.gov  (703)292-2635 DUE  Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU  Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date:	October 15, 2021
End Date:	January 31, 2023 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$49,999.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$49,999.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2021 = $49,999.00
History of Investigator:	David Kung (Principal Investigator) dtkung@gmail.com
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Texas at Austin 110 INNER CAMPUS DR AUSTIN TX  US  78712-1139 (512)471-6424
Sponsor Congressional District:	25
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Texas at Austin 3925 W Braker Lane, Suite 3340 Austin TX  US  78759-5316
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	37
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	V6AFQPN18437
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	IUSE
Primary Program Source:	04002122DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s):	7556, 8209, 9178, 9179
Program Element Code(s):	199800
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.076

ABSTRACT

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing the number of and diversity of successful mathematics and STEM students. Students? experiences in higher education mathematics courses take place in departments. Policies and practices relating to student and faculty experiences, admissions criteria and other aspects of departmental have too often contributed to longstanding inequities in representation and outcomes for minoritized students. In the summer of 2020, amidst the larger national discussion on racial equity, a grassroots workshop brought together over 100 leaders in the mathematics community to understand these disparate racial impacts, brainstorm, and explore opportunities for positive change. Participants built a shared understanding and commitment to promote greater racial equity for students and faculty in mathematics departments across the nation. This project looks to expand upon that initial work with a goal of encouraging further discussions and fostering wider transformation in the mathematical sciences community.

Department chairs, undergraduate and graduate directors, and national math organization leaders will gather regularly in facilitated groups to work through shared readings and analyze departmental policies and practices. Each group will engage in conversations relevant to their experiences and institutions with a goal of identifying strategies to more equitably serve their students. Some areas of focus for working groups will include mentoring and advising, graduate admissions, and both student-facing and faculty-facing policies. Participants will be asked to select an ?Avenue of Change?, which is an explicit goal to bring about change in their department or at their institution, and will be held accountable by their peers to carry out this task. In addition to broader dissemination of workshop outcomes, each cohort of participants will share their activities through social media, publications, sessions at national meetings or other means chosen to maximize reach and potential replication. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.

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.

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.

The Math Leaders Exploring Racial Equity project aimed to create greater awareness of how issues of racial justice play out in mathematics departments among department chairs, and help them plan to address those issues. During the summer of 2022, the project brought together 69 professors from higher education mathematics departments, all of whom had leadership positions (most as department chairs.) The leaders were divided into small groups of 8 to 10, with each group led by a trained facilitator with deep experience in both the mathematics community and DEI work. Sessions also included a co-facilitator to assist if needed. 

Sessions were structured around the book From Equity Talk to Equity Walk, by McNair, Malcom-Piqueux and Bensimon. Participants completed weekly reading assignments and had reflection questions to think about prior to the meetings. Groups met via Zoom and built community via Discord, where a robust group of like-minded individuals collaborated and shared ideas. 

A survey distributed after the end of the summer sessions suggests that the goals of the project were met. Asked about the likelihood of using something from the summer sessions on a scale of 1 to 10, over half of the respondents answered with a 9 or 10. Participants were mostly likely to report valuing that the project provided a supportive community where they could openly discuss issues of racial justice. Many also noted an increased attention to the use of disaggregated data (especially about student outcomes) in understanding equity issues and building the motivation to address them within their departments.

 

Last Modified: 07/11/2023
Modified by: David T Kung

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