Collaborative Proposal: "The EDGE Program"

EDGE（增强研究生教育的多样性）计划，于1998年推出，由国家科学基金会资助，是一个过渡计划，旨在提高妇女在数学研究生课程的保留率。该方案在研究生院前的夏季为其妇女参与者提供了一个支持性和积极的学习环境，其中一半来自代表性不足的群体。 EDGE暑期课程帮助学生预测和准备第一年的困难。支持继续在研究生院的第一年，确保学生有当地的导师，并融入他们的部门的社会和学术界。 EDGE计划解决了许多研究发现的不利于女性和少数民族在研究生院取得成功的障碍，并为克服这些障碍提供了新的模式。布林莫尔学院和斯派曼学院之间的这一合作项目将建立在九年的经验基础上，以推进该计划提高女性和少数民族学生保留率的目标，并进一步发展和传播实现这一目标的有效模式。 该项目的四个主要组成部分是：（1）将EDGE夏季计划延长四年，2008-2011年;（2）为目标研究生和本科生教师同时举办研讨会，旨在促进EDGE计划和这些部门之间的合作;（3）会议“促进数学研究生水平的多样性：2008年夏季在数学科学研究所（MSRI）举办的“国家论坛”（由国家安全局共同资助）;（4）“第二代”EDGE活动，包括继续区域指导集群，将EDGE指导模式扩展到高级研究生，博士后，该项目将通过为数学课程和组织创建模型，使来自各种背景和文化的人能够茁壮成长，进步并为专业做出贡献，从而最终使数学界多样化。

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.