Notes: The Gender Gap in Math
"The Gender Gap in Math" presented by the Harvard Undergraduate Mathematics Association
Panel: Gigliola Staffilani (Professor, MIT Math), Rediet Adebe '13 (PhD, Harvard SEAS), Hilary Finucane '09 (PhD, MIT), Alison Miller '08 (Postdoc, Harvard Math)
Moderator: Sarah Richardson (Professor, Harvard Social Studies)
Notes legibility estimate: HIGH
Notes completeness estimate: Incomplete; important, scattered quotes only.
Please assume that everything is at best a loose paraphrasing of what the panelists actually said; in the place where it got really bad, I've noted [paraphrased], but the others aren't always close quotations, either. Many good answers were left off because I'm seriously not that fast at taking notes.
HUMS: Some Numbers
The Harvard Undergraduate Math Survey (May 2014) was organized by Meena Boppana, Kate Donahue, Domniki Georgopoulou, and Caitlin Stanton, with contributions by Rahul Dalal, Ellen Robo, and Isabel Vogt, and advised by Prof. Benedict Gross. It had 130 responses, 55 from math concentrators (1/3 of math undergrads); here are a few of the findings.
Are you made uncomfortable by the gender gap in math?
- 3% of male responents
- 54% of female respondents
How many professors do you believe you can ask for a letter of recommendation?
- Female respondents: 1.0
- Male respondents: 1.6
Did you compete in math competitions in high school?
- 80% of male respondents
- 75% of female respondents
Are you planning on writing a thesis in pure mathematics?
- 25% of female respondents
- 50% of male respondents
Are you planning on grad school in mathematics?
- 65% of male respondents
- 25% of female respondents
Panel Discussion
Moderated by: Professor Sarah Richardson, Professor of popular gen-ed "Gender and Science: From Marie Curie to Gamergate"
Richardson: Let's get a