PIs: (1) Prof. Ghazal Geshnizjani, Chair of Women in Mathematics (WiM); (2) Prof. Joanne Atlee, Director of Women in Computer Science (WiCS); (3) Prof. Edith Law, founder of Waterloo Computer Science’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Conference and its Undergraduate Research Fellowship program; (4) Dr. Comfort Mintah, Lecturer in the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing, and former tutor in the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Ghana, Cameroon, and Rwanda.
Problem/Goal: The representation of women in math and computer science (CS) graduate programs in Canada has remained persistently low for the last ten years (representation is 31% in math and 20% in CS at Waterloo). While the data regarding other marginalized identities in STEM at Canadian universities is still very scarce, studies in the United States indicate students with Racial/Ethnic identities leave postsecondary STEM fields at much higher rates1. We propose to increase the diversity of graduate-school applicants from Canadian institutions, by exposing women and minority math and CS undergraduates to research and research careers early in their studies -- to give them ample time to discover an interest in research and to gain additional research experience before applying to graduate school.
Target Groups: Second/third year students from underrepresented groups including women, LGBTQ2S+, Indigenous Peoples, persons from underrepresented racial backgrounds, and persons with disabilities.
Proposal: A structured research experience that pairs formal training in research skills with an undergraduate research assistantship; plus a workshop on graduate studies and peer networking at Canadian conferences:
- Undergraduate research assistantships (URAs): The majority of CS students who participate in URAs at Waterloo do not do so until their fourth year, and CS women who participate in URAs typically do so later in their studies than men (We are seeking similar data for Math students). This is often too late for the URA experience to affect participants’ decisions to apply for graduate studies. To encourage earlier participation in research, the ROEE award will provide funding for a special program of URAs (called URA-WP, for “wider participation”) that are available only to second- and third-year Math and Computer Science students who belong to underrepresented groups. Students who hold URA-WPs are called SURE students.
- Research Experience courses: We will create two undergraduate courses: Research Experience in Mathematics and Research Experience in Computer Science. Lectures will focus on different aspects of research (e.g., how to motivate a research problem, conducting literature review, evaluation, publication culture and peer review, how to give research talks). Students enrolled in these courses will be expected to concurrently hold a URA or URA-WP and will participate in a term-long group research project in collaboration with graduate students, who themselves are enrolled in a Research Management graduate course that provides training on how to mentor and supervise junior researchers and on equity, diversity, and inclusion in research. The expectation is that the SURE students will increase the representation of women and minorities in the undergraduate Research Experience courses.
- Graduate studies workshop: A one-day workshop will be held in the fall. Morning sessions will include an introduction to graduate studies, research presentations, and discussions with graduate students from underrepresented groups. Afternoon sessions will focus on mentoring and advice on putting together graduate-school applications.
- Travel scholarships: Remaining funds would sponsor SURE students to attend Canadian conferences (e.g., Canadian Mathematical Society meetings, CAN-CWIC) to network with other women and minority researchers.
Women and minority math and CS undergraduates who have strong academic records will receive personal invitations and encouragement to participate in the SURE program and to attend the graduate studies workshop.
Sustainability: Course and training materials that are developed will be packaged to facilitate annual offerings of the Research Experience courses and the graduate studies workshop.
Widening Participation: After Year 1 we will reach out to other Canadian universities, share our materials and experiences, and provide assistance in running the SURE program at their institution. The students participating in SURE at different universities will be treated as a cohort. We will create communities for different underrepresented groups (e.g., women, Blacks, Indigenous) and will organize cohort meetings at Canadian conferences.
Bold and Game-Changing: Studies have shown 2,3,4,5 that undergraduates with research experience report greater confidence and interest in research careers. We propose multiple “curb cuts” to facilitate early exposure of minority students’ to research. We expect the funded URA-WPs plus the accompanying Research Experience courses to ease concerns that faculty members’ may have about taking on inexperienced URAs. We also expect the Research Experience courses to ease concerns that students’ may have about being qualified, the research experience to give them confidence in their abilities, and the cohorts to provide them with a sense of community. The SURE program scales to tens of students per year at individual universities and over a hundred students per year across Canada.
1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X19831006
2. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7296499
3. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2839509.2844573