Empowerment

03
Dec
2025
Reflecting on “Counted Out”: A Conversation About Maths, Power, and Inclusion

Reflecting on “Counted Out”: A Conversation About Maths, Power, and Inclusion

by the Her Maths Story team

On October 17th, we hosted a digital screening of the documentary Counted Out. This would not have been possible without the generous support of the Counted Out team and we would especially like to thank the director Vicki Abeles for this opportunity.

About the Film

Counted Out explores the invisible yet powerful role of mathematics in shaping our society. In today’s information economy, maths determines so much of our world — from who we date and the news we see, to the elections we vote in and the jobs we get. Through a blend of personal stories, expert interviews, and classroom scenes, the film asks a crucial question: What happens when only a small fraction of society feels confident engaging with maths and what could change if everyone did?

The documentary challenges the idea that being “a maths person” is an innate trait. Instead, it invites us to see maths as a language of empowerment — one that should be accessible to all, not reserved for a select few.

The film highlights a number of influential educators and the remarkable initiatives they have brought to life. A full list of contributors can be found here. Among those featured is civil rights activist Bob Moses, founder of The Algebra Project, an organisation that uses mathematics as a vehicle for social change and advocates for high-quality education for every child in the United States. Karim Ani is also profiled for his work on Citizen Math, a programme that offers immersive, real-world mathematics lessons for students in grades 6–12. The documentary further highlights Math for Love, an initiative created by Dan Finkel devoted to transforming mathematics teaching and learning through engaging games and innovative curriculum design.

The Screening

Before the screening began, we gathered briefly on Zoom to welcome participants and introduce the film. There were participants with various backgrounds, including a PhD student, a science communicator, and a maths educator. Then, everyone went on to watch the documentary. After the screening, our group came together again for a 40-minute discussion. All participants agreed that they enjoyed the film a lot.

Although it focuses primarily on the U.S. education system, its themes felt universal: from the early division of students into “maths” and “non-maths” categories to maths teaching at school being very different from maths taught at university level.

Several ideas stood out in our conversation: Math is for everyone. All children are mathematically talented; it’s the environment, not the individual, that determines how that talent develops. Good teachers make the difference. The challenge of finding and supporting teachers who can teach math effectively and empathetically was a recurring topic. Belonging matters. Especially for women and underrepresented groups, it can take years to feel accepted at the “maths table”. We need to keep that table open, and keep pulling up more chairs.

As one participant noted, “teachers should not judge maths students but focus on teaching them on different levels”. It’s a reminder that inclusion begins in the classroom but must also extend into workplaces, communities, and beyond.

What We Can Do

So what can each of us do to contribute to change?

We can support and uplift others, especially those from minority backgrounds. We can challenge stereotypes about who belongs in maths. And we can continue to create spaces for open conversation about how mathematics shapes our world and who gets to participate in that shaping.

Join the Movement

If you missed this screening, there are more opportunities to engage:
🎬 Join an upcoming screening: countedoutfilm.com/screenings
🎥 Host your own: countedoutfilm.com/host-a-screening

And, most importantly, take some time to reflect on the film’s core message:
Maths is not just about numbers — it’s about power, access, and inclusion.
When more of us see ourselves as “maths people,” we can shape a world that works for everyone.

Published on December 3, 2025.

Posted by HMS in Blog
26
Nov
2025
The Piscopia Initiative & How to Train Your Allies present: What Can You Do?

The Piscopia Initiative & How to Train Your Allies present: What Can You Do?

A practical guide for those wishing to improve gender diversity in mathematical research

by Rosie Evans & Ashleigh Ratcliffe

Rosie Evans and Ashleigh Ratcliffe have written a booklet entitled “What can you do?” which is a practical guide for those wishing to improve gender diversity in the mathematical sciences. It is based on previous events run by The Piscopia Initiative and How to Train your Allies as well as advice from academics across the UK.

Content of the booklet

The booklet offers advice on topics such as effective mentorship, contextualising mathematics courses at undergraduate level and debunking myths about PhD study. The booklet explores how staff and students can support underrepresented genders based on their role and expertise, with the objective to empower those who don’t know how best to help. Each chapter discusses a few themes followed by a space for reflections or a template to fill in. In this blog, we highlight a couple of the chapters and suggest some ways that allies can help within their roles.

Invisible workload

One of the key themes addressed in this booklet is the concept of the “invisible workload” which refers to tasks that are done during a job that are generally classed as “non-promotable”, a term coined by Babcock et al. in their book “The No Club: Putting a stop to women’s dead-end work”. They found that women are more likely to be asked to do service tasks, and have a greater risk to their reputation should they say no. We talk in this chapter about how this applies to those in academia. Tasks like sitting on various panels and committees, having impromptu career chats with students, organising timetabling, often fall on women more heavily. They are tasks that are often worthwhile to the department, and can be time-consuming. However, they are not proportionally accounted for when it comes to progressing your career and can take away valuable time from research.

As a starting point we make a couple of recommendations on raising awareness about the distribution of these tasks. Our suggestions are pitched as individual changes, however this issue is something that needs institutional buy-in to have widespread impact. For example, if women are required to sit on certain committees or interview panels, an ally could complete some of the administrative preparation to reduce the overall time commitment or mental load needed. Furthermore, if a woman is needed, then their role should reflect their specific expertise. The tasks that don’t require specific skills (e.g. writing up meeting notes, booking rooms etc) could be covered by an ally who does not have as many demands on their time.

We noticed when writing this booklet that this “invisible workload” is already present for PhD students. Our community said that they often feel they do a disproportionate amount of (volunteer) service tasks for their universities. We suggest that departments keep track of the service work done by PhD students (talking at careers fairs, being a part of student-staff committees) and consider alternative methods of finding volunteers. For example, a rotating schedule is the fairest way to allocate roles and reduces any unconscious biases sneaking in when asking for volunteers. As an ally, when you need volunteers, we suggest you consider the following: 1) Am I asking the people who I know are most likely to say yes?; 2) Have I asked these people previously?; 3) Is the person I’m asking already committed to other extra-curriculars?

It can be easy to think “they can just say no if they’re busy”, but the research shows that women are less likely to say no and as a PhD student there is the added pressure of fitting into a department where you are the earliest in career stage. The onus should be shifted to the person seeking help rather than on the student to say no.

Contextualising mathematics

We also talk about how lecturers can add context to their modules that will contextualise the way maths has been constructed through history. We spoke to Dr Jamie Mason at Durham University about their experience contextualising their representation theory course last year by providing a brief history when each new mathematician was mentioned. They noted that in representation theory, it was predominantly white, European men who were recorded as making the main advancements and so tried to acknowledge this during the sessions.

“As I progressed through the course, I began to notice that the vast majority of mathematicians were from late 19th or early 20th Century Germany, with a few British or French exceptions. Certainly, they were all men.”

Jamie suggested the following questions to assess your own modules:

  • Are there any patterns in the mathematicians in this area (e.g., are they predominantly one gender)?
  • In the time frame of these mathematical advancements, were particular groups excluded from mathematics?

They suggested that if there was a mathematician from an underrepresented group at the time, to make sure that they are highlighted in lectures. On our webpages, we suggest a few resources that have already been made where you can find key examples to include.

Jamie also said that when introducing mathematicians, they tried to give interesting (or scandalous) facts about them. There’s more to mathematicians than just their work, and so acknowledging their wider life can open up discussions about the ethical considerations of mathematics.

“Adding a contextual narrative will help students realise that the mathematics they learn was not developed in a vacuum, but influenced by the time and place of the society. I hope that this helps them become more conscientious and well-rounded students.”

We provide a template table for lecturers to use to log the mathematicians that are mentioned within their courses, to help them spot patterns and think about how this could be addressed in lectures.

Breaking barriers

Other chapters in the booklet cover things you can do for a student and for a member of staff, with a key theme around career building and navigating a research career.

A key aim of the Piscopia Initiative is to raise awareness of the PhD option for students of a gender minority in the mathematical sciences. A barrier to entry, even with sufficient grades and research interest, is a lack of knowledge as to what a research career looks like. To attempt to fill this gap, Piscopia hosts information events for students to find out these details. Piscopia also hosts PiWORKS, a monthly seminar series aimed at undergraduates and masters students to see different areas of research and showcase the work of women and underrepresented gender researchers, and their routes into research. 

We acknowledge that opportunities can arise due to who you know or are introduced to. Sharing of information, opportunities and networks is invaluable, especially to first generation PhD students and minoritised groups. However, there is a caveat that just because something is aimed at a certain group, it does not mean you should send it to everyone belonging to that group. We suggest that you should send opportunities thoughtfully, especially if you think the person would be a good fit. It’s a great confidence boost for anyone to hear that a colleague thinks they are worthy of some new opportunity or prize, so try to be specific in your recommendations where possible.

We suggest building a spreadsheet of opportunities (not necessarily limited to specific groups, but make note of requirements where necessary), and provide a template to get you started. By building your awareness of opportunities outside of your own field or expertise means that niche grants and opportunities are more likely to reach the researchers that may benefit most from them.

How to access

A downloadable version of the booklet is available on both of our websites (The Piscopia Initiative | How to Train Your Allies), alongside a list of useful related resources and a HTML version of the booklet. Upon request, we can also provide a printable version.

About the initiatives

How to Train your Allies is a group founded in 2022, who create resources to support staff and students to be effective allies within their departments. Their website has materials about how to be an ally on both an individual scale as well as promoting allyship to your institution via an interactive workshop.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/how-to-train-your-allies
Contact: howtotrainyourallies@gmail.com

The Piscopia Initiative was founded in 2019 and is a nationwide network of women and underrepresented genders with 16 committees at UK universities. Piscopia aims to improve gender diversity in mathematical research by highlighting role models, creating a supportive network to ask questions, encouraging a culture of belonging and hosting events to encourage more women and underrepresented genders to apply for a PhD.

Website: https://piscopia.co.uk/
Contact: piscopiainitiative@gmail.com

About the authors

Rosie Evans is currently a Learner Developer in Maths at Birmingham City University, having not long graduated with her PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Birmingham in July this year. Her PhD topic was focused on mathematical biology, specifically using differential equations to model hydrocortisone replacement treatment. Born in Shrewsbury, she first studied her BSc at the University of Exeter before returning back to the midlands for her masters and PhD. She has been an advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion throughout her career, acting as a committee member and then co-lead of the Piscopia Initiative from the years 2021-2024. Alongside this, she co-founded the “How to Train your Allies” group in 2022 during her PhD. Her goal is to help researchers not only understand why the gender gap exists in mathematical research, but to be empowered and equipped to help reduce it.

Ashleigh Ratcliffe is a current final-year PhD student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Leicester. Her research is in number theory and involves solving Diophantine equations, these are polynomial equations with integer coefficients for which we are trying to find integer solutions. Originally from Leicester, she studied a BSc in Mathematics at the University of Leicester. She is passionate about outreach and inclusion in mathematics and is a co-lead of the Piscopia Initiative and regularly writes for and edits Chalkdust magazine.

References

[1] Evans, Rosie, and Ratcliffe, Ashleigh. What can you do? – A practical guide for those wishing to improve gender diversity in mathematical research [Booklet], 2025. Available at: https://how-to-train-your-allies.github.io/what-can-you-do/ and https://piscopia.co.uk/what-can-you-do/

[2] Babcock, Linda, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart. The no club: Putting a stop to women’s dead-end work. Simon and Schuster, 2022.

Published on November 26, 2025.
Credit graphics of the women on the header image: Meg Evans (Instagram: @megserplet_artist)

Posted by HMS in Blog
24
Jul
2024
Edith Opoku Acheampong

Edith Opoku Acheampong

Born the central region of Ghana • Studies Bachelor of Science in Administration with a major in Administration accounting • Lives in Greater Accra region of Ghana • Occupation Student and AIMS Girls in Mathematical Sciences program alumnus

This is how my mathematics journey began. Back in elementary school, I did not  like mathematics. It was a subject I never wanted to learn or have anything to do with. It even got worse in the Junior High School level. My mathematics teacher used to be so boring and this made the subject not so interesting to learn. I graduated with a grade 3 in my final examination at the Junior High School level, Nevertheless, I was good at the rest of the subjects especially science.

Back in elementary school, I did not  like mathematics. It was a subject I never wanted to learn or have anything to do with.

I started enjoying mathematics in the senior High School. This took place when I started to practice mathematics every day. During my senior High School days, I studied general arts having my electives as elective mathematics, economics, government and geography.  Knowing very well my weakness in mathematics from Junior High school, I still chose mathematics as an elective course. Choosing this made me decide to take mathematics seriously. I started to study it. 

Choosing [mathematics] made me decide to take mathematics seriously. I started to study it.

After our mid-semester exams for the first semester in our first year, I had good marks in elective mathematics. I had 34 out of 40. I was so happy. Our madam made the class clapp for me and that really motivated me. It made me realize that I have the potential to become an excellent student of mathematics.

Since then, I have been very good at mathematics and even teach others. I have had scholarships due to mathematics. Mathematics is indeed taking me far. I got admission into the university because I had a good grade in mathematics and I’m offering a mathematics related course.

I therefore encourage young girls that mathematics is not a course which is not beyond their reach. They can do it!

Published on July 24, 2024.

Posted by HMS in Stories
12
Jun
2024
Dorcas Seshie Afi Mawutor

Dorcas Seshie Afi Mawutor

Born in Accra, Ghana • Birth year 2004 • Studies physics with computer science at the University of Ghana • Lives in Accra, Ghana • Occupation Level 300 student, financial secretary of department, Huawei campus ambassador for the University of Ghana Huawei ICT Academy

I have always admired Marie Curie, not just for her pioneering work in science but for her fearless approach to understanding the world. Her words “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” resonate deeply with me. I look at her pictures and see a fearless woman, reminding me of my journey and the questions I have asked myself and continue to ask: “Can I do this? Am I in the right field?”

My answers date back to my primary school days when my love for mathematics ignited my passion for physics. Even as a child, I was always very curious, constantly asking the WHYS, HOWS, and WHATS. My incessant questions often tired my teachers. I always found simpler and alternative ways to solve my math problems in class, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction when I arrived at the same answers as everyone else, but through a different approach. I’m not gonna lie, it made me feel like a genius.

Physics, as they say, is math in motion.

My journey into the world of physics began with a mixture of uncertainty, optimism, and determination. The uncertainty in my journey into physics arose from many questions about my future profession. In Ghana, physics graduates often become teachers or lecturers, a cycle I clearly want to break. This uncertainty fueled my optimism and determination, pushing me to explore diverse opportunities within the field. Moreover, the complexity and depth of physics as a subject can be intimidating. In senior high school, I found myself facing challenging material that often left me questioning my capabilities.

Physics, as they say, is math in motion. It is one abstract field. Its abstract concepts, such as quantum phenomena, special relativity, classical mechanics, cosmology, and mechanics, captivated and piqued my interest. I was also attracted to how difficult it seemed to grasp these concepts back in senior high school, which made me so competitive. It was either me conquering the physics subject or it totally conquering me.

Participating in The Girls in Mathematical Sciences program was transformative.

I remember being the first female in my school to contest in the national science and math quiz. My specialties as a candidate were my very brilliant skills and knowledge in physics and math. I was basically their human calculator as well as their math expert. I was glad when I chanced upon The Girls in Mathematical Sciences program organized by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. At first, I was skeptical about applying because I thought it was a program only for those interested in pursuing careers in mathematics, but my math teacher encouraged me to apply. I did, and voila, I got in. I am glad to have been part of the first cohort. Participating in The Girls in Mathematical Sciences program was transformative. I met exceptional young ladies whose enthusiasm encouraged me to study harder. Their confidence made me brave, and I deepened my passion for physics while learning about diverse career paths. Dr. Angela Tabiri inspired me as well.

I then realized that the program wasn’t geared only towards girls who wanted to pursue math; I met and appreciated the love of my life, PHYSICS. Funny, right? The world has its ways of doing things. I was enlightened on the various paths and careers that math and physics could lead to. At that point, I was wowed. I knew from then that pursuing a degree in physics wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Who knows? I might just be the next female Einstein.

Currently, I have a strong interest in quantum physics as well as machine learning, but I’m still exploring more options and hoping to intertwine physics with computer science.

I discovered various career paths through the program, including quantum physics, aerospace engineering, and data analysis. Currently, I have a strong interest in quantum physics as well as machine learning, but I’m still exploring more options and hoping to intertwine physics with computer science. Before my passion for physics, initially, my aspirations were firmly set on becoming a medical doctor, a path that seemed more defined and familiar (which is every science student’s dream).

My journey hasn’t been without challenges. Being a female in a predominantly male field can be daunting, especially since there aren’t many females pursuing physics. In my class, males make up about 85%. This disparity has been challenging, but it has also motivated me. In the future, I hope to contribute to the field of physics through research and innovation. I want to inspire other young girls, especially those from Africa, to pursue their passions in STEM fields. Curiosity has been my driving force, and I intend to keep it that way.

So here I am, Dorcas Seshie Afi Mawutor, a young woman from Accra with big dreams and a relentless spirit. My story is just beginning, and I am excited to see where this path will lead. Whether it’s unraveling the mysteries of the universe or inspiring the next generation of female scientists, I am ready for the journey ahead.

Published on June 16, 2024.

Posted by HMS in Stories
16
Feb
2022
Sanchita Chakraborty

Sanchita Chakraborty

Born in Bolpur, West Bengal, India • Birth year 1999 • Studies Mathematics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA • Highest Degree ongoing Bachelors of Science • Lives in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA • Occupation Student Researcher and Undergraduate Student

I always loved how neat math was. No matter the problem, the answers seem to come with a simple number. After taking partial differential equations and numerical analysis courses, it seems so silly now, the subject is anything but “neat”. It is complex, chaotic, and elegant, but what I have come to appreciate is its beauty, its ability to explain the world around us.

When I imagined a mathematician, I thought of an old man sitting in a flickering candle-lit room with melted wax and papers strewn around on an old wooden table. What did that really mean in the era of supercomputers, high-speed trains, planes and rockets?

As a child, I never really thought of being a mathematician as a job to pursue. I mean, to be fair the greats that I knew of only existed in Ancient Greece or Rome. When I imagined a mathematician, I thought of an old man sitting in a flickering candle-lit room with melted wax and papers strewn around on an old wooden table. What did that really mean in the era of supercomputers, high-speed trains, planes and rockets?

[..], I took the route of role models like Howard Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory and Dr. Amelia Brand from Interstellar, and chose a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

So, when I had to choose a degree to study, I took the route of role models like Howard Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory and Dr. Amelia Brand from Interstellar, and chose a degree in Aerospace Engineering. When I entered, I was excited by the engaging new problems I would learn to solve – whether it was in understanding rocket propulsion or in the use of orbital mechanics within navigation. However, instead I became bogged down with solving mundane structures and material problems. Moving into my sophomore year, classes did become more interesting with my first fluids and orbital courses. Every time I stepped into an engineering classroom, I felt a sense of excitement in understanding the fundamental equations, rather than the applications to real-world problems.

While I had once run away from engineering, I found myself right back to where I began, but instead I was in the role of a mathematician.

I reflected on my prior math courses, thinking about how I would apply these geometric properties and analysis techniques to problems that I had been introduced to in my aerospace courses. I knew it was time for a change, so I switched gears to classes like complex analysis, partial differential equations, and introduction to proofs. I was hooked. Around the same time, I had my first laboratory experience in mathematics. I spent the summer working on neural networks to reduce the loss from the 2D approximations to the advection-diffusion equation in transport phenomena. It was one of the hardest learning experiences, coming in with very little knowledge of Deep Learning, but the hours spent on literature reviews seemed less like work and more like unravelling my favorite mystery novel. This was the moment in which the puzzle pieces of all my interests across engineering and mathematical disciplines clicked.  So when I finished my summer project, I immediately looked for new opportunities in applied mathematics, and I was fortunate enough to find a supervisor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department to work on Finite Element Methods and the Schrödinger equation. While I had once run away from engineering, I found myself right back to where I began, but instead I was in the role of a mathematician. My supervisor has helped me find confidence in my abilities and given me the opportunity to take lead on my first project, and is the reason I have found the confidence to apply to applied math MS/PhD programs for fall 2022.

I had women like Katherine Johnson to look up to, but she was merely a role model, not an individual I could tangibly connect to.

While I have been undoubtedly lucky to be surrounded by amazing mentors, the lack of women mathematicians and engineers did not go unnoticed. I found my experiences to be hardly unique. When talking to a good friend in the math department, I found that she too had been the only woman in her math classes. In four years, I had only had one woman math professor and one woman graduate student that supervised my research. In my graduate and advanced courses, I was one of two or maybe three women students. The world had long moved away from the old man in the candle-lit room, but the representation of women in the industry was grossly underdeveloped. Looking at research faculty in the graduate programs I applied to, I found the representation to be quite similar. I had women like Katherine Johnson to look up to, but she was merely a role model, not an individual I could tangibly connect to. She seemed just as far remote as the Greek greats.

Inequality seems to be quite an abstract notion and equality just an idealized concept, existing only in philosophical treatises. To encourage more women to pursue a career in academia and research, we must begin by creating real mentor-mentee relationships that go far beyond the professional. Only through this tangible bond can we expect to see true equality in every field, including this complex and elegant language we hold so close and I sincerely hope that one day the word mathematician comes with an image of a woman and a man working side by side in a world intertwined with modern technology.

Published on February 16, 2022.

Posted by HMS in Stories
13
Oct
2021
Angela Tabiri

Angela Tabiri

Born in Tema, Ghana • Studied Mathematics at the University of Glasgow, UK • Highest Degree PhD in Mathematics • Lives in Accra, Ghana • Occupation Lecturer

Growing up in Accra, Ghana, I loved mathematics. I found joy in solving mathematics questions but I did not envision a career in mathematics as a thing for me. My older sisters studied business courses at the university so I decided to follow in their footsteps and applied to study Business Administration as my first choice course at the University of Ghana. Fortunately or unfortunately, I could not gain admission for my first choice program and had to settle for my second choice which was mathematics and economics. Nevertheless, I loved the challenge mathematics presented. I had to spend hours after lectures revising lecture notes and solving exercises. I found this thrilling.

My motivation for giving back to the community where I grew up was to give students from less privileged backgrounds access to quality education.

After undergraduate studies, I went to the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Ghana for postgraduate studies. It was at AIMS that I got exposed to different fields of mathematics. From AIMS Ghana, I went to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for a postgraduate diploma in mathematics. The program at ICTP was very challenging but it helped convince me that I could pursue mathematics further.

After postgraduate studies, I became conscious of the opportunities available when one studies mathematics. Prior to this, most of us thought anyone who studied mathematics at the university would end up as a teacher. This is not to say that teaching is not a good profession, I love teaching. When I realised the many opportunities available after postgraduate studies, I volunteered as a mathematics teacher in a junior secondary school in my community. This would inspire the young students that mathematics is not impossible to study as perceived and one could pursue a career in mathematics. In subsequent years, I volunteered as a mathematics teacher for at least a month and donated books to the library of this school. My motivation for giving back to the community where I grew up was to give students from less privileged backgrounds access to quality education.

My research interest is in noncommutative algebras which are abstract analogues of subtraction and division.

I was awarded a Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship in 2015 to pursue PhD in Mathematics studies at the University of Glasgow (UofG). In 2019, I graduated with a PhD in Mathematics from UofG, returned to my home country Ghana and started working as a postdoctoral fellow at AIMS Ghana. I am currently a research associate and academic manager for the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Program (GMSP) at AIMS Ghana. I decided to pursue a career in academia because I love teaching and doing research.

A summary of my research interest is as follows. Consider the operations of addition and multiplication, it does not matter the order in which you perform them. That is, 2 + 3 = 3 + 2 and 2 × 3 = 3 × 2. In mathematics, we call this the commutative property. However, the operations of subtraction and division are not commutative. That is 2 − 3 is not equal to 3 − 2 and 2 ÷ 3 is not equal to 3 ÷ 2. We say that subtraction and division are noncommutative. My research interest is in noncommutative algebras which are abstract analogues of subtraction and division. For any shape that you can draw on a flat surface whereby the shape can be described by an equation, we investigate whether we can put a noncommutative structure on the shape to make it a quantum homogeneous space. This area of research is abstract but our hope is that there will be useful applications of our results in a few years time.

Our mission is to inspire young girls about the diverse career options available when you study mathematics and our vision is to see girls being confident to pursue a career in mathematics and related fields.

I am passionate about supporting and promoting women in mathematics which ties in well with my new role as the academic manager for the GMSP. The GMSP is a hybrid 9 month program for high school girls from Ghana to nurture their talents in the mathematical sciences. We meet students monthly online for masterclasses with experts in different fields of mathematics. Then during vacations from school, the students visit the AIMS Ghana campus for residentials where minicourses in mathematics, industrial visits, interactions with mentors and extracurricular activities are undertaken.

I am also the founder of Femafricmaths, a charity that promotes female African mathematicians. We host guests by interviewing them about their journeys with mathematics and share the videos on the Femafricmaths social media pages. Our mission is to inspire young girls about the diverse career options available when you study mathematics and our vision is to see girls being confident to pursue a career in mathematics and related fields.

There are few of us and we need to ensure that barriers are removed so more women can pursue careers in mathematics.

Mentors have played a critical role in my academic and professional journeys. Ken, Ulrich, Prince and Chelsea have been phenomenal mentors who mentor me every step along the way. I have also benefited from the Women in Noncommutative Algebra and Representation Theory (WINART) research group. This is a collaboration between women in mathematics from different universities. I learnt a lot working with this research group comprising both early career and established mathematics.

It is important to be intentional about creating opportunities for women in mathematics. There are few of us and we need to ensure that barriers are removed so more women can pursue careers in mathematics. I was awarded a Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship for my PhD studies. This fellowship is for women in STEM from developing countries to enable us to study at top universities abroad and return to our home countries to support teaching and research. It would have been challenging to find other sources of funding for my PhD if I had not been awarded this fellowship by the Schlumberger Foundation.

Link:
Femafricmaths – Female African Mathematicians

Published on October 13, 2021.

Posted by HMS in Stories
06
Oct
2021
Pamela Estephania Harris

Pamela Estephania Harris

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico • Birth year 1983 • Studied Mathematics at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in Milwaukee, WI, USA • Highest degree PhD in Mathematics • Lives in North Adams, MA, USA • Occupation Mathematics Professor

My love for math faded during my high school years. Being undocumented, living in the United States was challenging. Even though I was doing well academically, I thought I might never have the opportunity to attend college. I was sad, and at that time I turned to art as an outlet to deal with the challenges I was facing. I spent most of my senior year in high school in an art studio. I spent countless hours learning to draw, paint, and sculpt. I even dropped out of my calculus class just so that I could have more time to do art. I do not regret that choice, even though going a year without math courses hurt my mathematical skills. At the time, I needed something to help me deal with the anxiety and sadness I was experiencing, and art served me well. 

There I had a meeting where my mentor said “when you go to graduate school”. I had no idea what graduate school was, but I knew that if she believed in me, then I should go to graduate school.

After graduating high school, I was able to enter community college. How that was possible is a story for another day, but the main thing is that, upon entering the program, my mathematical skills were well below calculus. My first college math course was intermediate algebra, where I (re?)learned how to factor polynomials. I vividly remember that day’s lesson where the professor said “To factor x^2+5x+6 we need to find two numbers that add to 5 and multiply to 6.” I immediately raised my hand, proudly announcing that numbers did not do that. How can two numbers multiply and add to something different? Luckily, the professor was very kind and she allowed me to think of examples. After discovering that 2 and 3 did the trick, I felt such joy in understanding something that I had taken for granted: numbers are amazing and in fact multiplication and addition are two distinct things! From there my story began to take shape. 

After intermediate algebra I took all of the math courses the community college offered and later transferred to a four-year college to continue studying math. There I had a meeting where my mentor said “when you go to graduate school”. I had no idea what graduate school was, but I knew that if she believed in me, then I should go to graduate school. So, on I went! 

My professional mission is to ensure that mathematics is a welcoming place for everyone, and I am eager to keep working on this for as long as I live.

I always knew that I would like to be a teacher. There is something so beautiful about seeing someone understand something. Most people call that an “aha” moment, and it truly is special. I also knew that education is a path out of poverty and into opportunity. Being an immigrant, I knew firsthand that having options is one key component to a happy life. So, I have always wanted to help others reach their goals and attain their dreams. However, it was not until almost the completion of my PhD that I decided to be a college professor. Finding this as a career option was great because it has allowed me to continue learning while doing research and teaching students. Creating new programs and platforms that provide mentorship and support for students from groups who have been historically excluded from higher education has also been deeply fulfilling. This outreach work keeps me grounded and reminds me that there is still a lot of work to be done in order for everyone to have meaningful and positive experiences with mathematics. My professional mission is to ensure that mathematics is a welcoming place for everyone, and I am eager to keep working on this for as long as I live. 

Throughout those early years I could have used a larger community of support and to see others like me occupy positions and careers like those I had an interest in.

Being an immigrant, previously undocumented, and a Latina woman meant I rarely saw people like me in mathematics. Throughout those early years I could have used a larger community of support and to see others like me occupy positions and careers like those I had an interest in. Sadly, it took a long time to find a community of scholars who shared similar backgrounds and heritage. Yet this motivated much of my past work and inspired me and Drs. Alexander Diaz-Lopez, Alicia Prieto Langarica, and Gabriel Sosa to co-found the organization Lathisms: Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences. Our goal is to share and amplify the contributions of Latinx/Hispanic scholars in math. We do this through a variety of means including Hispanic Heritage Month (in the US it is celebrated between September 15 and October 15) events, a podcast, and even a new book — Testimonios: Stories of Latinx and Hispanic Mathematicians. The book’s chapters will be freely available one per month starting in September 2021 and our hope is that this book provides a way for those within the community to learn of our stories while also giving advice to those who want to learn more about us and how to support our work. Although there is much work to be done so that those from historically excluded groups feel valued and uplifted in mathematics, I am hopeful that initiatives like Lathisms are making this reality possible.

Links:
Lathisms: Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences
Testimonios: Stories of Latinx and Hispanic Mathematicians

Published on October 6, 2021.

Posted by HMS in Stories
19
May
2021
Candice Price

Candice Price

Born in Long Beach, CA, USA • Birth year 1980 • Studied Mathematics at The University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA, USA • Highest Degree PhD in Mathematics • Lives in Northampton, MA, USA • Occupation Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Smith College

I first fell in love with mathematics in the 3rd grade. It was by pure coincidence though. You see in the 3rd grade I learned how to multiply. Now we did not learn through the tangible way of repeated addition, but with music and memorization. Both of these pedagogical choices stimulated my interest in two ways: my love of music and my competitiveness. Let me elaborate a bit about this.

My whole family is very musical. My maternal grandfather was in a DooWop group named “The Mellows”. He taught my mother to sing, which translated to me singing in the church choir with my siblings. My father constantly played music in our home, especially on his record player. My sister and brother made music a part of their careers and I listen to music any chance I get. Needless to say music played a huge positive role in my life, and still does. So when my teacher played the SchoolHouse Rock multiplication videos for us in class, I was instantly sold! I still sing the song “3 is a magic number” sometimes. I got to see that music could play a large role in learning mathematics. It made mathematics fun and enjoyable. It also helped me memorize the multiplication table because I had memorized the lyrics. This helped with my competitive nature.

Looking at those celebrated in mathematics, I didn’t see someone that looked like me.

I think it is no secret that when learning multiplication, students are often subjected to timed “times table” tests. This was a test or quiz or even just an assignment where you had to fill out a sheet of multiplication problems in maybe around 5 minutes. Oddly, I thrived on this type of competition. It wasn’t a competition with my classmates, but a competition with myself. How many “times-tables” could I remember? How fast could I write them all down? Would I improve my previous score? I think this competitive nature pushed me to love the act of learning, keeping me excited about understanding things at a deeper level. I will also say that this competitive nature has also led to my trivia team, Juneteenth Wreath LLC, being 4 time trivia champs across 2 different platforms #humblebrag.

While this was the first experience I had that created a love of mathematics, I didn’t stay in love. I have walked away from mathematics when I felt that it was not the place for me. Looking at those celebrated in mathematics, I didn’t see someone that looked like me. I assumed that meant that no matter how much I loved math, it did not love me back. (I was a bit of a dramatic teenager.) While I came back to mathematics and made it my career, it wasn’t until recently that I felt like I had a place in mathematics. I would often tell folks “I am a mathematics professor, but I don’t see myself as a mathematician”. The distinction was that while I enjoyed teaching and talking about mathematics, did I think about it on the level that most “mathematicians” do? No. I didn’t enjoy research too much, although I loved working with my collaborators. I didn’t enjoy watching research talks, unless I knew the speaker. I would also be so nervous giving talks, always a bit unsure if I was painting the correct picture. But recently this has all changed.

If today Candice could talk to 3rd grade Candice about this great path through mathematics she is going to venture on, I would tell her about the ups and downs.

I have met so many amazing people who are also mathematicians. Many, but not all, are from minoritized groups in the mathematics community, all forging ahead creating their own definition of what it means to be a mathematician. This community helped me finish my PhD in Mathematics at the University of Iowa, supported me through my postdoctoral work at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and been a great guide through multiple career decisions/milestones I have made/passed, including starting a tenure track position at Smith College and receiving tenure and promotion. If today Candice could talk to 3rd grade Candice about this great path through mathematics she is going to venture on, I would tell her about the ups and downs. Let her know that she is stronger and more clever than she knows. And that she is a mathematician, that she became one that day. I would also give her a small reminder that it is ok to not always be super excited about something– except for music, that is a love that never dies.

Published on May 19, 2021.

Posted by HMS in Stories
20
Jan
2021
Joana Sarah Grah

Joana Sarah Grah

Born in Germany • Birth year 1987 • Studied Mathematics in Münster, Germany • Highest Degree PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, UK • Lives in Düsseldorf, Germany • Occupation Scientific Associate

My decision to study mathematics was anything but straightforward. I always enjoyed maths classes throughout my primary and secondary school years. I also have to add that I personally believe this experience was significantly influenced by the fact that I had great maths teachers. Luckily, against a sadly very common (mis)perception of society I never felt that maths was not for girls. Maybe this was unconsciously strengthened by the female maths teachers I had in early school years. Shortly before my last two years of secondary school began, I decided against choosing mathematics as a major (which always seemed to be clear beforehand) because I did not enjoy the maths classes I attended in the preceding year. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the following two years of maths classes, which is among other things certainly due to the amazing teacher (and possibly first maths mentor) I had. From the beginning, he made quite clear that he did not really understand why I only chose maths as a minor, but he would motivate, encourage and challenge me even more throughout the two years. He also was one of the few persons I could consult when I was thinking about applying to study maths at university.

In the end, (…) I decided to study maths but was pretty much clueless about how a typical workday of a student even looked.

I was the first family member to attend university, let alone having received a university-entrance diploma, and so my family could not really provide me with a lot of advice or experience in this regard. However, they were incredibly supportive in multiple other ways throughout my studies and without their support I certainly wouldn’t be where I am now.
In the end, after considering other options such as linguistics and language studies, I decided to study maths but was pretty much clueless about how a typical workday of a student even looked. At first, I thought it was sufficient to attend the lectures (like the classes in school) and go home after. This also fit snugly with the hours I had to work in my side-job. The ‘homework’ was surely very similar to the one at school and I would just solve the mathematical problems we were given by myself like I did in school. Preparing for the exams would certainly be similar to schooldays and I would not have to study too hard. It did not take too long until I realised that I was completely wrong. The first unsuccessful exams hit me quite hard and ultimately, I found myself in a situation that I had not known up to this point in my life. It was already pretty late to turn things around completely and after many thoughts and conversations, I decided to start all over again one year later.

It is essential to have role models to look up to from the beginning and ideally to be mentored and supported by experienced and committed persons. I am extremely lucky and thankful to have those people in my life.

The further I got and also the more I was able to specialise in my studies, the more I enjoyed student life. I was lucky enough to have a strong and supportive network of fellow students and friends. What is more, especially in the final year of my Bachelor’s, I had two extremely dedicated, passionate and encouraging advisers, one of which was going to become one of my main mentors throughout my academic career. And this is the main message I would like to convey here. It is essential to have role models to look up to from the beginning and ideally to be mentored and supported by experienced and committed persons. I am extremely lucky and thankful to have those people in my life. In addition to my Bachelor’s and Master’s supervisor, I had two incredibly supportive, heartening and inspiring women as a PhD supervisor and co-supervisor. I believe that my passion for women encouragement was significantly influenced by my main PhD supervisor who herself has given numerous talks on her own experiences as a woman in maths, her career path and her very personal journey to become an excelling mathematician and leader.

We realised that we were not alone with our struggles and doubts and this was extremely liberating and empowering.

Already during my Master’s, I participated in a mentoring programme that was coined by a very committed (male!) diversity officer at our maths department. We had regular meetings in small groups of three mentees and one mentor who was a female PhD student. We were able to informally chat about positive and negative experiences, the decision whether to continue as a PhD student or search for a job in industry and how being a woman in a still male-dominated field poses some challenges. We realised that we were not alone with our struggles and doubts and this was extremely liberating and empowering.

Without all of this amazing support and encouragement I am 100% sure that I would not have continued doing a Master’s respectively PhD respectively post-doc, as I have fairly often thought about quitting at various points in my career. In the end, persevering, listening to my mentors and believing in myself was worthwhile. Nowadays, I try to identify situations in which I observe sexism, female students and colleagues struggling with imposter syndrome, or simply the exhausting and competitive environment that academia sometimes is. Then I try to speak out or even manage to become a mentor myself.

My PhD research was in applied mathematics. More specifically, in one of my main projects I developed mathematical image analysis tools for an application in cancer research. In an interdisciplinary collaboration I worked with biologists that studied the efficacy of anti-mitotic drugs trying to slow down or prevent mitosis, the process of cell division, in cancer cells. I developed a graphical user interface that facilitated the automatic analysis of sequences of microscopy images showing the treated cells over time.

I loved the communication part of post-grad academic life; not only discussions and exchanges, but also communicating my work to others at conferences, workshops and during outreach projects. 

I always liked collaborations in my academic career and I believe that against all stereotypes, at least applied maths is a very team-oriented discipline and it is essential to discuss lectures, papers and ideas with fellow students and colleagues. I loved the communication part of post-grad academic life; not only discussions and exchanges, but also communicating my work to others at conferences, workshops and during outreach projects. Recently, I even quit research and started working as a scientific associate at university focusing on science communication as well as education.

Published on January 20, 2021.

Posted by HMS in Stories