Mathematical Sciences: Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE): A Transition Program for Women in the Mathematical Sciences

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Bryn Mawr and Spelman Colleges have established a program whose explicit purpose is to increase the number of women and minority students who successfully complete graduate programs in the mathematical sciences. This program, entitled "Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE)," is designed to strengthen the ability of the targeted student population to successfully negotiate the transition from undergraduate to graduate education in mathematics, and to succeed in those graduate programs. The program focuses primarily on recent graduates of undergraduate mathematics programs who will attend graduate programs in the mathematical sciences the following fall. For the past four years, the Principal Investigators have co-directed the NSF-sponsored Spelman-Bryn Mawr Summer Mathematics Program, aimed at identifying and encouraging talented young women to pursue careers in the mathematical sciences. Now, as a continuation of this effort, the two institutions are addressing a persistent problem that continues to thwart the efforts of earlier intervention programs, namely the attrition of talented women and minority students from graduate programs in mathematics. Attrition for these groups is disproportionately high, and students who are not successful in one program are often lost from the pipeline altogether. In order to realize its goals, the program helps students develop a stronger background in the basic areas of analysis and algebra. In addition, the program establishes mechanisms to provide prospective female graduate students with (1) a clear understanding of what will be expected of them in graduate school, (2) the basic tools needed to increase both their confidence and their ability to compete in graduate school, (3) a support network aimed at keeping them in the mathematical sciences once they have begun their graduate work, (4) a broad perspective about mathematics and its connections to other disciplines, and (5) an understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses under stress, in group study, and in a competitive environment. The structure of the program involves two basic components: (1) an intensive summer program, and (2) a follow-up mentoring program. The summer program includes two six-week core courses; four one-week minicourses on exciting areas of mathematical research; and problem sessions aimed at preparing participants for graduate qualifying exams. The mentoring program involves graduate institutions in the identification of appropriate mentors who will serve as advocates for the participants from the beginning of their graduate study. A continuing support network is provided by the Principal Investigators, student participants, and graduate student mentors. In addition, the project includes a comprehensive study, done in conjunction with a sociologist experienced in investigating issues involving gender and science in higher education and at the professional level, whose aim is to determine the effectiveness of the program in helping students to negotiate the various stages of their graduate education. Over a period of four years, between forty and fifty women, at least half of whom are from underrepresented minority groups, will be directly supported in their efforts to persist to the Ph.D. degree in the mathematical sciences. As a result, it is expected that the success rate of women and minorities in graduate programs in the mathematical sciences will increase, beginning with the rates at participating institutions. The evaluation process will also provide the mathematics community with intensive data about the experiences of minorities and women in graduate programs in the mathematical sciences.