A Center for Women in Mathematics at Smith College

有了这笔赠款，史密斯大学数学系将开设两个项目，目标都是增加进入数学科学研究生院的女性人数。其中一个是数学专业的大三课程，来自全国各地的数学专业的本科生将在史密斯大学花一年的时间几乎只学习数学。第二个是数学学士后项目，在这个项目中，获得学士学位但缺乏足够的数学课程的学生将在史密斯大学学习一年的本科生和研究生数学。这两个项目的参与者都将得到广泛的指导，将在教师的指导下加入研究小组，并将前往参加会议。我们的目标是增加参与者在数学科学方面的信心、背景和进入研究生院的愿望。尽管女性在许多传统上是男性的领域取得了进步，但数学方面的进步一直很慢。进入医学院和从医学院毕业的女性占大多数，但在攻读数学博士学位的学生中只占32%，在终身数学教师中只占16%。在学习过程中的每一个阶段，女性都会退出数学。然而，女子大学，尤其是史密斯学院的记录是不同的。在史密斯，更多的女性主修数学，更多的人升入研究生院，更多的史密斯毕业生成功地获得了博士学位。由于数学在智力生活中的中心地位，这方面的进步对女性的整体进步至关重要。拥有数学学位的女性除了数学科学外，还会立即申请生物、计算机科学、经济学、工程学、管理学和金融学等专业。该计划旨在通过传播女性数学教育的好处来解决数学领域的性别不平衡问题。我们的双胞胎目标是男女同校的试探性但有才华的本科生女性，以及后来认识到自己对数学的热爱的女性毕业生。通过培养、激励和教育这些女性，我们希望使她们在数学研究生院和其他地方的成功率发生重大变化。

With this grant, the mathematics department of Smith will inaugurate two programs both with the goal of increasing the number of women going to graduate school in the mathematical sciences. One will be a junior year program in mathematics, in which undergraduate women mathematics majors from schools across the country will spend a year at Smith taking mathematics almost exclusively. The second will be a post-baccalaureate program in mathematics, in which students who have earned a bachelor's degree but lack sufficient coursework in mathematics will spend a year at Smith studying undergraduate and graduate mathematics. Participants in both programs will receive extensive mentoring, will join research groups under the direction of faculty, and will travel to conferences. We aim to increase participants' confidence, background and desire to go to graduate school in the mathematical sciences.While women advance in many traditionally male areas, progress in mathematics has been slow. Women are a majority entering and graduating from medical school, but comprise only 32% of those studying for Ph.D.s in mathematics and only 16% of tenured mathematics faculty. At every stage in the pipeline, women withdraw from mathematics. The record at women's colleges, however, and at Smith in particular, is different. At Smith, more women major in mathematics, more advance to graduate school and more Smith graduates successfully earn doctorates. Progress here is critical to the advancement of women overall, due to the centrality of mathematics in intellectual life. A woman with a degree in mathematics is immediately a candidate for programs in biology, computer science, economics, engineering, management, and finance, in addition to the mathematical sciences. This program seeks to address the gender imbalance in mathematics by spreading the benefits of a women's education in mathematics. Our twin targets are tentative but talented undergraduate women at coeducational institutions and women graduates who recognized late their love for mathematics. By nurturing, energizing, and educating these women, we hope to make a significant change in their success rate in mathematics graduate schools and beyond.