Collaborative Proposal: "The EDGE Program"

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The EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) Program, introduced in 1998 with funding from the National Science Foundation, is a transition program for women designed to improve retention rates in graduate programs in mathematics. The program provides a supportive and positive learning environment for its women participants, one-half of whom are from underrepresented groups, in the summer prior to graduate school. The EDGE Summer Program helps students anticipate and prepare for first-year difficulties. Support continues in the first year of graduate school by insuring that students have local mentors and are integrated into the social and academic community of their departments. The EDGE Program addresses barriers that have been identified by many studies as detrimental to the success of women and minorities in graduate school, and provides new models for overcoming those barriers.This collaborative project between Bryn Mawr and Spelman Colleges will build on nine years of experience to advance the program's goals of improved retention for women and minority students, and further development and dissemination of effective models to achieve this goal. The four major components of the project are: (1) renewal of the EDGE Summer Program for four years, 2008-2011; (2) concurrent workshops for targeted graduate and undergraduate faculty aimed at promoting collaboration among the EDGE Program and these departments; (3) a conference "Promoting Diversity at the Graduate Level in Mathematics: A National Forum" at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in Summer, 2008 (jointly funded by the National Security Agency); and (4) "Second-Generation" EDGE activities, including continuation of Regional Mentoring Clusters that extend the EDGE mentoring model to advanced graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty in close geographical proximity.This project will ultimately diversify the mathematics community by creating models for mathematics programs and organizations that allow people from all backgrounds and cultures to thrive, advance, and contribute to the profession.