The Mathematics Ph.D. Program at Iowa

David Manderscheid Professor and Chair

Department of MathematicsUniversity of Iowa

The National Bureau of Economic Research January 14, 2005

Underrepresented Minorities

• Definition of underrepresented minorities (“URMs”): U.S. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians/Alaskan Natives/U.S. Native Pacific Islanders

• July 2003 U.S. Census estimates: 27.1% of population

Percentages of 2000–01 science and math degrees given to US URM’s

Bachelors Masters Doctoral

Mathematical sciences

13.8% 9.5% 6.9%

Phys. sciences 12.5% 8.6% 6.1%

Comp. science 17.0% 12.4% 5.7%

Biological sciences

16.0% 11.6% 7.5%

Engineering 13.1% 10.3% 7.8%

Source: Science and Engineering Degrees by Race/Ethnicity of Recipients: 1992–2001, Susan T. Hill and Jean M. Johnson, NSF 04-318

US Mathematics Ph.D.’s 2003-04

Male Female Total

Native American

3 2 5

African American

12 6 18

Hispanic American

12 2 14

Total PhDs 296 145 441

Percentages

• 8% of Ph.D.s to URM’s

• 1041 Ph.D.s total

• 4% of total Ph.D.s are URM’s

• URM’s probably overreported

• URM’s not uniformly distributed

• Sources: AMS and NSF data, Abbe Herzig, Bob Megginson

Department Facts At A Glance

• Teach 7,000 students per year, 120 graduate students and 200 undergraduate majors.

• Graduate an average of 12 Ph.D.s each year.

Department Facts At A Glance

• 97% of the department’s graduate students currently supported through teaching or graduate assistantships or fellowships.

• Over the past five years, 100% of the Department’s Ph.D. graduates secured positions.

UI Mathematics DepartmentURM Enrollment

0%

10%

20%

30%

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

UI Mathematics DepartmentPrimary Grant Sources

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

US Department of EducationGraduate Assistance in Areasof National Need (GAANN)

National Science Foundation

UI Mathematics Department Initiatives

• A three-week intensive Summer Institute for incoming students

• Weekly help sessions throughout the academic year

• Intensive mentoring, a community of mentors

• Senior teaching assistants as peer mentors in first year graduate courses.

• A year long weekly seminar: “Introduction to the graduate program”

• Summer preparatory courses for Comprehensive Exams

• Multi-year offers

• Faculty led effort

Louis Beaugris

• Hometown: Queens, NY

• Undergrad: CCNY

• Status: Ph.D. May 2002

• Research Area: Algebraic Coding Theory

• Assistantships / Internships: GAANN fellowship and Teaching Assistantship

• Current Position: Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Kean University, NJ

Sharon Lima• Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

• Undergrad: Loyola Marymount

• Status: Ph.D. student, postcomps

• Research Interest: Ring Theory

• Assistantships / Internships: GAANN Fellow, teaching assistant; research assistant, Sloan Fellow

• Aspirations: To be a university professor who can balance research and teaching. Wants to become involved with diversity issues. “I feel that I would be able to help other minority students to succeed at the university/college level.”

Dandrielle Lewis• Hometown: Elizabethtown,

NC

• Undergrad: Winston Salem

• Status: Ph.D. student, precomps

• Area of Interest: Pure Mathematics

• Assistantships / Internships: GAANN Fellow, AGEP Fellow

• Aspirations: Hopes to develop a math and science program that increases abstract thinking & reasoning skills among students, particularly minorities.

Abukuse Mbirika

• Hometown: Bronx, NY• Undergrad: Sonoma State• Status: 1st year Ph.D. program• Areas of Interest: Number

Theory and Representation Theory

• Support: Univ. of Iowa Presidential Fellowship

• Aspiration: Professor at a research university

Success Facts: Program’s Success To Date

• The change in composition of the graduate student population has created significant change in the Department's culture.

• Majority students have availed themselves of many of the initiatives initially created to help minority students, such as closer mentoring and greater interaction with classmates, faculty and staff.

• Friendships and close working relationships have sprung from these interactions.

Success Facts: Program’s Success To Date

• Cultural, ethnic and gender inclusion have become the norm

• The new environment has become a successful recruiting tool for the department – 58% of Ph.D. students are US citizens and 44% are women

Success Facts: Program’s Success To Date

• 5 URM Ph.D.s, 3 expected this year, anticipated steady state of 3 per year

• Of the students who did not complete the program, the substantial majority have received MS degrees and many are in doctoral programs in other STEM fields

Lessons Learned

• The academic community of a predominantly white institution has a strong, yet largely unexamined cultural component.

• Students from varied backgrounds have varied expectations of the graduate school experience.

• Students can be chosen on the basis of potential and work ethic, not traditional measures. You must meet them where they are at, however.

• Everything is easier when one out of every four of your graduate students is a URM.

URM’s in STEM Graduate Programs

• We must build “regions of diversity.”• We must understand and respect the hopes

and aspirations of the students whom we serve.

• We must build close working and personal relationships with minority-serving institutions.

Institutionalization and Growth

• Institutionalized at math department level

• Iowa AGEP

• NSF-Iowa Alliance for the Production of African American Ph.D.s in the Mathematical Sciences

NSF-Iowa Alliance for the Production of African

American Ph.D.s in the Mathematical Sciences

(APAAPMS)

APAAPMS GOALS• Identify students at participating HBCUs who have the potential to obtain an advanced degree in a mathematical science or a field employing mathematical skills and methods.

• Provide mentoring, nurturing and research experiences for these students throughout their undergraduate careers.

• Build bridges between participating HBCUs and majority institutions to provide a seamless transition to graduate school.

• Scholars are assigned two mentors: one from their undergraduate institution and one from an Iowa Regents Institution.

• Iowa Regents mentors visit the Scholars’ undergraduate institutions several times each year and maintain close contact via telephone and e-mail to develop individualized courses of study and research projects.

• Scholars are encouraged to spend at least one summer at an Iowa Regents university.

• Scholars and their mentors participate in an annual Alliance Conference at one of the HBCUs.

• Scholars receive an annual stipend of $5,000 for which they must perform assigned projects.

The APAAPMS Scholars Program

• An opportunity for 24 students to spend 8 weeks during the summer at one of the three Iowa Regents Institutions to conduct research and prepare for graduate school.

• Students learn about the variety of research areas and career paths available to them

• Students are introduced to life and work at a large, majority university.

• Provides opportunity for interaction between students and professors from both minority and majority institutions.

• Provides students with exposure to distinguished minority scholars and other supporters of minority scholarship.

APAAPMS Summer Research Experience