GROW: Strengthening the Mathematical Workforce

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This grant will fund two related conferences aimed at addressing gender imbalances within the mathematical sciences. The first conference is a weekend long conference for women undergraduates in the mathematical science, designed to encourage women studying mathematics in the USA to continue their mathematical education at the graduate level. The second activity is a summit of mathematicians, with the goal of addressing the broader issues that affect the gender imbalances in the mathematical sciences. The undergraduate conference, titled Graduate Research Opportunities for Women (GROW) is modeled on the first such conference organized at Northwestern in October 2015, which attracted 50 undergraduates from across the mathematical sciences and a wide variety of institutions, and will bring together 80 women undergraduates interested in pure and applied mathematics. As in the first iteration, GROW II will combine research talks, panel discussions, mentoring in groups and individually, a banquet with speech by a keynote speaker, and networking opportunities. We will also create a framework for this activity to continue into the future, not only at Northwestern but also at other institutions. The second activity is a meeting of mathematicians in the two days before the next incarnation of GROW. This summit will discuss ways in which the US mathematics major can be recrafted to make it more attractive to undergraduate women; reasons behind the substantial differences in gender ratio among mathematics majors at different colleges and universities in the USA; and the creation of a network of ambassadors who will be able to assist people at other locations around the country to implement similar programs. This work is co-funded by the NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences and the Division of Undergraduate Education.