MPWR 2016 and beyond: Fostering sustainable networks for women in RUME

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Women in RUME are mathematicians whose research expertise is in undergraduate education rather than one of the more traditional areas of mathematics. In general, these women tend to hold academic positions in departments of mathematical sciences, where they can face some systemic barriers and professional challenges that can make them feel marginalized. Toward addressing this issue, this project will build on an infrastructure initiated and cultivated in prior work: a face-to-face mentoring and partnership system that targets participation amongst women researchers within undergraduate mathematics education. This infrastructure has become known as MPWR: Mentoring and Partnerships for Women in RUME. The project will include support for this infrastructure for an additional three years. What's more, after the previous two annual iterations, the MPWR infrastructure is sufficiently established to be studied as a model to support women in undergraduate STEM education research.The positioning of women in RUME in mathematics departments compounds multiple known issues -- such as women in academia, women in mathematics, education researchers in mathematics departments, more specifically, RUME experts in mathematics departments -- exacerbating the potential for marginalization. Studying this situation in order to advance understanding, the project will pursue the following research questions: (1) What are the issues that women in RUME struggle with related to career success, and more specifically, what impedes women in RUME from social and academic integration into their research community? (2) How do these issues compare to (a) men in RUME, (b) women in mathematics research, (c) women in other areas of mathematics education research, and (d) women in educational research in general? (3) In what ways do the MPWR seminar impact the RUME community, specifically focusing on three groups: women in RUME, including (a) those who have participated in MPWR and (b) women who have not participated in MPWR, and (c) men in RUME? (4) In what ways does the MPWR seminar support the social and academic integration of women in RUME?