MPWR II: Mentoring Partnerships for Women in RUME

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

This project will help stimulate the growth of Partnerships for Women in RUME (Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education) and foster 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 emphasize face-to-face mentoring and a partnership system that targets participation amongst women researchers within undergraduate mathematics education. The project will also function as 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, as well as facilitate mentorship and partnership opportunities among graduate students and faculty, both junior and senior, within the research community. Building on the success of MPWR I, the project will initiate the process with a seminar that will occur in conjunction with the annual RUME conference. The project will have seventy participants. 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 to 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.