NSF INCLUDES: WATCH US (Women Achieving Through Community Hubs) in the United States

数学是许多STEM领域的基础，数学方面的成功是其他科学学科成功的催化剂。增加女性和其他代表不足的群体在数学职业中的参与，可以建立人力资本，为下一代培养出不同的问题解决者、研究数学家、各级教职员工和榜样。现有的支持和充实计划针对处于本科和研究生教育不同阶段的数学女性，采用不同的策略来建立社区、创造归属感和促进成长思维模式。这些策略挑战了一些最常见的成功障碍，包括孤立、刻板印象威胁、不够早地致力于数学，以及冒名顶替者综合症。认识到女性在社会经济背景和教育背景方面的多样性，该项目建议从两个主要问题的角度来审视这些项目的有效性：(1)这些项目中的哪些要素是女性成功的关键因素，取决于她们在这些不同的多元化轴线上的位置？(2)这些项目的哪些特征是作为参与者职业生涯阶段的功能最有效的？这些问题的基本原理是，更好地了解和改进招收和留住数学专业本科生和研究生女性的计划，有很大潜力增加女性在全国数学博士中的比例。该项目旨在通过确定和传播最佳实践和已知机制，增加和多样化美国专业数学家的数量，以提高女性在数学研究生课程中的成功，特别是来自代表性不足群体的女性。这项提案的主要负责人将与管理、数据收集和报告以及传播方面的专家合作，以应对以下三个挑战：(1)制定衡量这些举措中每个要素的有效性的共同制度；(2)制定一个有效的集体决策程序；(3)在现有活动和资源之间建立联系。本项目既是探索性研究，又是实效性研究。该项目团队将首先通过采访各种过去曾是本科数学专业的女性以及现在的专业数学家，来探索支持或抑制女性攻读数学博士学位的背景因素。然后，他们将利用这些信息更好地了解当前和过去试图增加女性参与高等数学的各种倡议的最有效特征。关键的利益相关者会议将制定一个有效的集体决策过程，以利用项目团队从访谈中学到的东西。领导小组将开发一个带有讨论板和社交媒体组件的网站，以突出最佳做法，并促进为对数学感兴趣的妇女建立一个虚拟社区。最后，对计划元素及其目标有效性的提炼将为选择在可伸缩模型上测试的相互关联的活动提供信息。这些原型将在选定的几个地点实施，以代表不同的选民和当地支助基础设施。

Mathematics is the foundation of many STEM fields and success in mathematics is a catalyst for success in other scientific disciplines. Increasing the participation of women and other under-represented groups in the mathematics profession builds human capital that produces a diverse pool of problem solvers in business and industry, research mathematicians, faculty at all levels, and role models for the next generation. Existing support and enrichment programs have targeted women in mathematics at different stages in their undergraduate and graduate education, with different strategies to building community, creating a sense of belonging, and promoting a growth mind set. These strategies challenge some of the most common obstacles to success, including isolation, stereotype threat, not committing to mathematics early enough, and imposter syndrome. Acknowledging the diversity among women in terms of socio-economic background and educational background, this project proposes to examine the effectiveness of these programs through the lens of two primary questions: (1) Which elements of these programs are most critical in the success of women, as a function of their position along these distinct diversity axes?, and (2) which features of these programs are most effective as a function of the stage of the participant's career? These questions are guided by the rationale that a better understanding of, and improved pathways by, which programs recruit and retain undergraduate and graduate women in mathematics has the strong potential to increase the representation of women among mathematics PhDs nationwide.This project seeks to increase and diversify the number of professional mathematicians in the United States by identifying and proliferating best practices and known mechanisms for increasing the success of women in mathematics graduate programs, particularly women from under-represented groups. The PIs on this proposal, all of whom are leaders of initiatives that have been active for nearly two decades, will work with experts in management, data collection and reporting, and communications to address the following three challenges: (1) develop a common system of measuring the effectiveness of each element in these initiatives; (2) develop a process for effective, collective decision making; and (3) create connections between existing activities and resources. This project is both exploratory research and effectiveness research. The project team first will explore the contextual factors that serve to support or inhibit female pursuit of mathematics doctorates by interviewing a variety of women who were undergraduate mathematics majors in the past, as well as current professional mathematicians. They then will use this information to better understand the most effective features of various current and past initiatives that are trying to increase the participation of women in advanced mathematics. A key stakeholder meeting will develop a process for effective, collective decision-making, to utilize what the project team learns from the interviews. The leadership team will develop a website with discussion board and social media components to highlight best practices and facilitate a virtual community for women interested in mathematics. Finally, a distillation of program elements and their targeted effectiveness will inform the selection of interconnected activities to test on a scalable model. These prototypes will be implemented at several sites chosen to represent a diversity of constituencies and local support infrastructure.