Mathematics Leaders Exploring Racial Equity

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

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.