Zsuzsanna Dancso of the University of Sydney discusses how the institution promoted stronger female participation in its mathematics programme.
As the artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing industries explode, trained STEM professionals are in high demand. Mathematics is foundational to these fields.
But mathematics is missing an important ingredient: people who are female or gender-diverse.
In New South Wales, for example, only one-third of high school graduates who complete mathematics at the highest level are female or gender-diverse. And when students choose university courses in December, a large proportion of these highly qualified people will step away from mathematics and STEM.
Australia cannot stay competitive by only accessing half of its young talent. By leaving mathematics early, young women and gender-diverse people limit their own career opportunities. Worse, the new technologies resulting from the current revolutions may not serve broader society well, if women and gender-diverse people are not involved in their development.
But at the University of Sydney over the past five years we have run a successful pilot programme to reverse this trend – and to empower young women to make informed career choices. Better, the programme is cheap to run and can be easily adopted elsewhere so mathematics – and the many industries it underpins – can be more diverse in ways that benefit everyone, regardless of their gender.
Declining enrolments
Before 2020, female and gender-diverse enrolments in advanced mathematics at the University of Sydney were in decline.
In 2020, the incoming cohort was nearly 80pc male. Non-STEM directions offer attractive and important career options, and some movement between specialisations is expected. But a nosedive from 35pc female students at the end of high school to 22pc at the start of university indicates a problem.
Over five years, a team I lead piloted an intervention which has increased the ratio of female and gender-diverse students in advanced first-year mathematics from 22pc to 30pc – nearly back to the high school levels.
Our programme consists of two components:
- Information, personalised invitations, and enrolment advice for incoming female and gender-diverse students.
- A mentoring programme for female and gender-diverse students who enrol in advanced mathematics.
Targeting the problem from year one
Before the start of semester, we compare first year enrolments with students’ high school certificates and majors. Like in high school, mathematics at the university is offered at multiple parallel levels.
When students are enrolled at a lower level than their background and major would justify, we send personalised emails encouraging them to switch to the advanced level. We hold a welcome event and multiple drop-in sessions, offering tailored advice.
In the mentoring programme we match female and gender diverse advanced maths students with groups of eight to 12 peers of mixed year levels. Matching is based on timetables.
Each group is mentored by a senior (honours or PhD) student, and an academic – at least one of whom is female or gender-diverse. Student mentors bring invaluable insight to the programme, as they had walked in the mentees’ shoes only a few years before.
Each year 50–80 students participate in the programme, roughly two-thirds of whom are first-year students.
Mentoring groups meet weekly for an hour: sometimes with both mentors, sometimes with the student mentor alone. Meeting topics are loosely structured around academic advice and sharing experiences.
Many groups develop their own agendas organically. The programme does not focus on tutoring, though students enjoy discussing key mathematical techniques and concepts.
Fostering community and belonging
At the heart of the programme is the opportunity to build community with peers, away from the pressure of assessments. While student feedback on the programme is overall enthusiastic, it is a puzzle to maintain engagement with mentoring as semesters get hectic. It is difficult for students to prioritise community building when marks are on the line elsewhere.
We suspected the large drop in female and gender diverse enrolments at the transition to university is at least partly explained by these students’ lack of confidence in their mathematical abilities.
Research shows such insecurities disproportionately affect women. General messaging is ineffective in the face of self-doubt, so we aimed for a personalised but scalable approach.
The mentoring component fosters community and belonging. This combats isolation, provides ongoing support and enables long-term retention.
A low-cost solution
Our programme is a low-cost solution that can be implemented in most academic contexts.
The first year of university is a place to start, but it is too late to fully address Australia’s pipeline problem. We can’t expect to have women and gender-diverse students participating in STEM at university in higher numbers than they did at the end of high school.
Similar programmes could be put in place in high schools, and personal invitations can even be used to bring more girls to elementary school enrichment programmes. This would help boost diverse and equitable participation in STEM from the roots.
Zsuzsanna Dancso is an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Sydney. She is a mathematician working in quantum topology. She primarily studies knots in three and four dimensional spaces and their relationships to quantum algebra, a branch of algebra inspired by theoretical physics. She is also interested in tertiary education, culture and inclusion in mathematics and STEM.
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