Diversity in Math: Leading From The Front
The DiM program is part of a multi-year, multi-level program geared towards promoting diversity and inclusivity in Canadian STEM fields.
By Jimmy Fryers
In celebration of the third annual PIMS sponsored Diversity in Math Summer School (DiM), we met with organizer and founder of the event in BC, Malabika Pramanik, to discuss her leadership of the program, hopes for the future, and the impact of the event on the field of the mathematical sciences.
PIMS also interviewed some past participants to see how their experience at the summer school influenced their time at university and beyond.
DiM Background
The origins of the DiM program can be traced back to an earlier iteration run by Kathryn Hare, Sue Ann Campbell and Barbara Csima at the University of Waterloo called Two Weeks in Waterloo: a Summer School for Undergraduate Women in Math.
In 2012, Malabika was invited to be part of the steering committee for the Waterloo event, which evolved into her becoming a mini-course instructor in 2014. It was that teaching experience that became transformative for Malabika.
Unfortunately, the organizers were unable to sustain the program at the University of Waterloo, but Malabika wasn’t ready for it to end. She returned to the University of British Columbia and collaborated with the math department and PIMS to organize the ‘2016 Two Weeks in Vancouver’version of the Waterloo program.
Malabika & Diversity in Math
Malabika has been at the forefront of promoting diversity in math through her involvement in the program since 2014 and it’s something that means a lot to her:
“I feel that any field, any organization, any discipline, needs as many voices and faces as it can hold, and it can only grow richer if there is a diversity of audience and a diversity of perspectives, and objectives.”
When asked about her vision for Diversity in Math, she responded thoughtfully:
“My objective is to break down this sense of isolation that always haunts underrepresented groups when they’re trying to get into a field and make perceptible progress.
“I’d like to somehow change the culture in some tangible way. It would be great if people saw themselves going in and succeeding in a STEM field even though they understand they will be a minority.”
It’s evident from speaking to Malabika that the program is much more than just a math education camp — it seeks to encourage, build self-confidence, and equip students with the tools they need to be successful in STEM.
Features of the Program
To achieve these objectives, there are some features that were retained for the UBC version of the program because the team found they were extremely effective. These components include:
- Keeping it as a two-week summer school
- Having a featured course, on a subject which is not part of the standard undergraduate curriculum, that’s given by an instructor who is an expert in the field
- Making the content compatible with first and second-year mathematics curriculum in Canadian universities
- Incorporating a series of guest lectures from academic and industry professionals
Evolution of the DiM
Being involved in the program since it’s inception, Malabika has been at the forefront of its transformation; tweaking and improving what worked well and bringing in new components that increase its scope and influence:
“Every week we have guest lectures — in the past, we’ve had Stephanie van Williamsburg, and Rachel Ollivier from the UBC math department. These are award-winning faculty known for their research. We had Melanie Alvarezwho is the BC Math Education Coordinator and we have had a multitude of speakers from industry, for example, speakers from BC Safety, Fincad, and Amazon.
“All of these people have spoken about their mathematical background and journey to the position that they are in now. They also explain what other important skills they needed to pick up along the way — it’s not just about math because to get to a position like this requires a well-rounded portfolio.
“The other highlight is the distinguished public lecture, which is given by someone who is an extremely successful professional who speaks about his or her journey getting to the top of their field as well as about some mathematical topic; it’s open to the public so it has to be easily accessible, but the main audience is the workshop participants,” Malabika enthusiastically explained.
High School Mentorship Addition
In 2018, Malabika and team decided to incorporate a high school component into the program. They received a three-year NSERC Science grant for a high school-orientated mathematics enrichment program that was to run concurrently with the undergraduate summer school with a very strong interaction between the two.
The ambition for this mentorship initiative is greater than simply helping to improve the students’ mathematical ability. As Malabika pointed out, “It’s not just sitting down with them to solve a problem, there is that too, but there’s significantly more. There’s a discussion forum where they can talk to the high school students about their path into college, what to look out for, how to prepare their application, what to steer clear of, and what kind of courses they should be planning to take in high school.”
According to Malabika, the impact of this mentorship element was enormous:
“The undergraduate participants felt so inspired and empowered, and that was the point really — for them to realize they’re already leaders, role models, and part of the math community, and they shouldn’t feel isolated.”
Another newly added component includes visits to companies that employ mathematicians. Over the years, the participants have toured Hwawei, 1Qbit, and D-Wave Systems, as well as attending talks by female leaders from companies such as Amazon.
International Representation
Malabika is happy with the growth of the program and progress that’s been made in establishing its reputation further afield:
“When we started this ‘two weeks in Vancouver’ type program most of the people who were involved were from UBC, SFU and the Lower Mainland, and over the years we have attracted students from Washington State and Oregon; our mini-course instructors have joined us from Chicago and Virginia; and in 2019 we have someone who’s going to be here from Cape Town, South Africa and she’s planning to bring her own student. So we actually now have the very real potential to start up new networks with other countries. I feel as we have grown really strong — this is something that I feel is a great thing.”
What does the future hold?
One thing that’s evident from talking to Malabika is that her aspirations for the program are not for it to simply be an annual UBC-based event, but a widespread movement that reaches and empowers as many people as possible:
“With unlimited money and time, I would like to see Diversity in Math as a Grassroots program and I would like to see them much more extensively. They should not be relegated to one University, one organization, or a limited number of individuals.
“In an ideal world, we would have enthusiastic candidates who are willing to become the torchbearers of a program like this and ideally it should be held in every part of the country, where every province and geographical area has a strong representation — that’s my pipe dream,” said Malabika passionately.
PIMS Support
One thing that the DiM team can count on is the continued support of PIMS to ensure the ongoing success of the program:
“This year will be our third time running the program and since its inception, PIMS has been a key element of this program taking shape. So when it began in 2016 as the Two Week in Vancouver Summer School, PIMS was the one that provided the seed funding for it and were the host institute.
“I can’t explain how critical it is to have that seed funding because there’s a guarantee this event is going to happen then it becomes much more of an incentive for these other funding entities to make a contribution. So PIMS has been extremely courageous taking this step in being the first organization to support and to support us continuously.” Malabika confided.
Long-term impact
The work required to organize the workshop is significant and undertaken voluntarily.
“We are limited by our funding model and our budget — our entire program is free; not only is it free, we actually provide participants travel reimbursement, accommodation on campus; and for the high school students, transit passes, and meals,” Malabika revealed.
However, the reward for all the hard work is knowing that lives have been changed as a result of the summer school.
“Every time this program has ended people have written to us and provided feedback telling us it has been transformative about how they perceive their future careers,” Malabika explains.
She goes on to say, “Many of them said they left the program knowing that they had to get at least a master’s degree in a stem field, possibly a PhD. We see the effects of this, because within 6 months to a year after this program we get many requests from our undergraduate participants requesting suggestions of which schools to apply to, requests to write a letter of recommendation on their behalf, or helping them to figure out which university would be a good fit for them.
“There are also Facebook groups that the participants create on their own and they help each other. I’ve seen from letters that people go through many personal challenges which they would not feel comfortable sharing with the organizers but they’re very comfortable sharing with members of their own cohort and they’ve helped each other through very challenging times.
“This kind of impact is beyond our control but we feel very fortunate that we are the people that brought them together and gave them the strength to continue on in this fashion. It’s not quantifiable, and it’s not something we can ensure happens or enforce it to happen, but when it does happen you realize how incredibly valuable that is.”
Lasting Friendships
The program has had a profound impact on those who have taken part, with many of the past participants mentioning that the program has been life-altering.
Such shared experience fosters an environment where lasting friendships are often formed; using the Facebook groups from past iterations, members from across the country meet up when their schedules converge, such as this group who met up in Montreal:
In interviews with two students who attended the summer school and subsequently went on to undertake master’s degrees, Emily Korfanty and Bown Tian, both speak highly of the role their newfound friendships played in the course of their academic journey.
Emily Korfanty, UVic
Emily is a masters student at the University of Victoria, BC, studying operator algebras and topological dynamics. She attended the PIMS Women in Math Summer School after being recommended the program by her former professor, and recently shared her experience with PIMS.
What were you expecting before you got there?
I don’t really know what my expectations were. It was all a new experience. I’d never been to a conference alone before and I wasn’t sure if I’d make friends there or not, but I did.
How did the reality of the program differ from your expectations?
The program was exactly what I was expecting but I made much, much better friendships and had a lot more fun than I was expecting. I’m a shy person, so usually these things are a bit intimidating, but it was great. We would go out in giant groups of at least 10 people and arrange events for us to do ourselves in our spare time. There was no cliquey feeling at all, everyone just seemed to get along really well.
What was the highlight of the program?
I really enjoyed the knot theory course. I also really enjoyed the tours of D-Wave and 1QBit. I had no idea that these places hire mathematicians. I was very surprised.
There is now a high school mentorship component of the program.
That sounds wonderful. When I was in high school I didn’t even know research in math was a thing. I thought that if you wanted to do research then you had to do the classical sciences.
Do you think the DiM had any influence on what you’re currently doing?
At the time I was debating between doing physics and math and the program definitely helped me make a decision between the two. I felt a lot of support from one of the friends I’d made in the DiM program and we talked a lot about more advanced pure math and hearing her enthusiasm sparked my enthusiasm; I came back from the program feeling really excited about math.
Bowen Tian, UBC
Bowen is a second-year graduate student at the University of British Columbia studying journalising the structures of algebra and the categorification of Hecke algebra. She visited the PIMS office at UBC to discuss the DiM summer school.
How did you hear about the program?
At the time I was looking for some conferences to take in the summer. Many workshops are too advanced for undergraduate students; however, the DiM program seemed much more approachable for undergraduate students.
There were very few female students in honours math when I was studying in Alberta and my supervisor, Dr. Cliff, said the DIM program is very inclusive and referred me to it.
What were you expecting before you got there?
I was a little bit nervous. I thought it could be a little bit competitive. I remember before I came for the program we got an email saying there was a recommended reading list and I was nervously preparing. I just imagined there’d be many smart people and got that insecure feeling. But after I arrived my opinion changed. There were certainly a lot of smart women, but the atmosphere was very friendly and inclusive.
It was wonderful. I didn’t expect to make friends but I did. I think the highlight of this conference was that we made long-lasting friendships. Still now, three years after the program, we still meet at other conferences.
During the process of applying to graduate school, we exchanged suggestions and were supportive of each other. Even this summer, there’s a friend I met at that conference who’s from Waterloo and is coming to Vancouver so we’re going to reconnect — I didn’t expect to make strong bonds with other members.
Do you think the DiM had any influence on what you’re currently doing?
It definitely made me decide to do my master’s degree.
What was the highlight of the program?
The support groups were a highlight for me.
I came from a small math department that didn’t have many female students so I sometimes felt lonely. Through DIM I got to meet other female students and make friendships. Another highlight was meeting so many female professor role models.
Also, the tours of industry were really useful and encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree. Before that, I was worried about getting a math graduate degree and I wasn’t confident I could get a job after, but these industry tours and meeting all the managers made me realize companies really value math and research.
We went to visit one company in Vancouver called 1Qbit and we met several math PhDs who have been working there after graduation. We also met a female senior manager, Robyn Foerster, and she encouraged us by telling us the usefulness of math research.
The theories are perhaps not directly applicable but the experience that you get from the graduate degree is really precious when looking for a job and can make you competitive.
These company tours really improved my confidence in securing jobs outside academia. Having access to female math graduates actually working in industry let me see the opportunities out there.
The 2019 PIMS Diversity in Math program runs from July 22 to August 2 and will be hosted jointly by Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. Here is the poster for the event.
