MPWR: Mentoring and Partnerships for Women in RUME

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is to support Partnerships for Women in RUME (Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education) and create a sustainable support system for women at all career stages in undergraduate mathematics education research. Stemming from the need articulated in national reports and research findings, the project will initiate face-to-face mentoring and partnership system that targets participation amongst women researchers within undergraduate mathematics education. The project will be a clearinghouse for opportunities for established women to mentor newcomers into the field, and to build partnerships among women researchers of undergraduate mathematics education at all career stages. The project goals are to provide an environment for women in the undergraduate mathematics education research community to discuss issues specific to them; and informally provide or expose women to mentorship and partnership opportunities among graduate students and faculty, both junior and senior, within the research community. The project will initiate the process with a seminar which will occur in conjunction with the annual RUME conference. The project will have sixty participants, who will arrive one day prior to the start of the National RUME conference. This will allow one full day of meetings for the MPWR seminar, followed by three days of informal contact. The structure of the MPWR seminar is panel discussions followed by organized break-out groups. The panel discussions will target various topics of interest, such as the work-life balance and climbing the academic ladder. Invited panel discussants, chosen from within and beyond the RUME community, are women that represent various stages in career, type of career path, institution type, and lifestyle choices. Each panel discussion will be followed by organized breakout group discussions about the panel topic. Following the RUME conference, participants will submit requests for formalized mentoring and partnership networks composed of one senior faculty, two junior faculty, and three graduate students. The project aligns with the national effort to support the careers of women and minorities within the STEM disciplines. It takes up specific recommendations for this support in the form of fostering personal, face-to-face mentoring and partnership opportunities. By supporting women in undergraduate mathematics education, the project seeks to increase the number of graduate students pursuing undergraduate mathematics education research who will go onto academic positions, as well as increase the productivity of female junior and senior faculty who already hold academic positions. The MPWR seminar will further expand the role of women pursuing research in undergraduate mathematics education within in the broader Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) community.