Allyship

One of the reasons we started this podcast in 2013 was to provide
a more realistic picture of mathematics and of the way
mathematicians work. On Nov. 19 2021 Gudrun talked to Stephanie
Anne Salomone who is Professor and Chair in Mathematics at the
University of Portland. She is also Director of the STEM
Education and Outreach Center and Faculty Athletic Representative
at UP. She is an Associate Director of Project NExT, a program of
the Mathematical Association of America that provides networking
and professional development opportunities to mathematics faculty
who are new to our profession. She is a wife and mother of three
boys, Milo (13), Jude (10), and Theodore (8).
This conversation started on Twitter in the summer of 2021. There
Stephanie (under the twitter handle @SitDownPee) and
@stanyoshinobu Dr. Stan Yoshinobu invited their fellow
mathematicians to the following workshop: Come help us build
gender equity in mathematics! Picture a Mathematician workshop
led by @stanyoshinobu Dr. Stan Yoshinobu and me, designed for men
in math, but all genders welcome. Gudrun was curious to learn
more and followed the provided link:

Workshop Abstract
Gender equity in the mathematical sciences and in the academy
broadly is not yet a reality. Women (and people of color, and
other historically excluded groups) are confronted with systemic
biases, daily experiences, feelings of not being welcome or
included, that in the aggregate push them out of the mathematical
sciences. This workshop is designed primarily for men in math
(although all genders are welcome to participate) to inform and
inspire them to better see some of the key issues with empathy,
and then to take action in creating a level-playing field in the
academy.
Workshop activities include viewing “Picture a Scientist” before
the workshop, a 2-hour synchronous workshop via zoom, and
follow-up discussions via email and Discord server. *All genders
welcome AND this workshop is designed for men to be allies.

This idea resonated strongly with Gudrun's experiences: Of course
women and other groups which are minorities in research have to
speak out to fight for their place but things move forward only
if people with power join the cause. At the moment people with
power in mathematical research mostly means white men. That is
true for the US where Stephanie is working as well as in Germany.
Allyship is a concept which was introduced by people of colour to
name white people fighting for racial justice at their side. Of
course, it is a concept which helps in all situations where a
group is less powerful than another. Men working for the
advancement of non-male mathematicians is strictly necessary in
order for equality of chances and a diversity of people in
mathematics to be achieved in the next generation. And to be
clear: this has nothing to do with counting heads but it is about
not ruining the future of mathematics as a discipline by creating
obstacles for mathematicians with minoritized identities.


The important question is: How is it possible to educate men and
especially powerful white men to become allies?


The idea of this first workshop designed by Stephanie and Stan
was to invite men already interested in learning more and to
build a basis with the documentary Picture a scientist (2020).


SYNOPSIS

PICTURE A SCIENTIST chronicles the groundswell of researchers
who are writing a new chapter for women scientists. Biologist
Nancy Hopkins, chemist Raychelle Burks, and geologist Jane
Willenbring lead viewers on a journey deep into their own
experiences in the sciences, ranging from brutal harassment to
years of subtle slights. Along the way, from cramped
laboratories to spectacular field stations, we encounter
scientific luminaries - including social scientists,
neuroscientists, and psychologists - who provide new
perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse,
equitable, and open to all. (from the webpage)


In this film there are no mathematicians, but the situations in
sciences and mathematics are very similar and for that it lends
itself to show the situation.


In the podcast conversation Gudrun and Stephanie talk about why
and in what way the documentary spoke to them. The huge and
small obstacles in their own work as women mathematicians which
do not make them feel welcome in a field they feel passionate
about. The film shows what happens to women in Science. It
shows also men in different roles. Obviously there are the
bullies. Then there are the bystanders. There are universities
which allow women to be hired and give them the smallest space
available. But there are also men who consider themselves
friends of their female collaegues who cannot believe that they
did not notice how the behaviour of other men (and their own
behavior in not taking a side). Seeing this play out over the
course of the film is not a comfortable watch, and perhaps
because of this discomfort, we hope to build empathy.


On the other hand, there is a story of women scientists who
noticed that they were not treated as well as their male
colleagues and who found each other to fight for office space
and the recognition of their work. They succeded a generation
ago.


The general idea of the workshop was to start with the
documentary and to talk about different people and their role
in the film in order to take them as prototypical for roles
which we happen to observe in our life and which we might
happen to play. This discussion in groups was moderated and
guided in order to make this a safe space for everyone.


Stephanie spoke about how we have to let men grow into their
responsibility to speak out against a hostile atmosphere at
university created mostly by men. In the workshop it was
possible to first develop and then train for possible responses
in situations which ask for men stepping in as an ally.


The next iteration of the workshop Picture a Mathematician will
be on May 11.

Biography: Stephanie Salomone earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics
from UCLA in 2005 and joined the faculty at the University of
Portland that year. She serves as Professor and Chair of
Mathematics and Director of the STEM Education and Outreach
Center at UP, as well as the Faculty Athletic Representative.
She is an Associate Director of Project NExT, a national
professional development program for new higher-education
mathematics faculty. She was the PI on the NSF REFLECT program,
advancing the use of evidence-based practices in STEM teaching
at UP and the use of peer-observation for formative assessment
of teaching, and has managed a combined $1.6 million as the PI
on a subaward of the Western Regional Noyce Alliance grant and
as PI of the NSF Noyce Program at UP. She is on the Board of
Directors for Saturday Academy, a local 501c3 whose mission is
to engage children in hands-on STEM learning. Dr. Salomone is
the recipient of UP’s 2009 Outstanding Teaching Award and the
recipient of the 2019 Oregon Academy of Sciences Outstanding
Educator in STEM Higher Education Award.



Literature and further information

Allyship: What It Means to Be an Ally, Tulane university,
School of social work

Guide to allyship

Ernest, Reinholz, and Shah: Hidden Competence: women’s
mathematical participation in public and private classroom
spaces, Educ Stud Math 102, 153–172 (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-019-09910-w

J.R. Cimpian, T.H. Kimand, Z.T. McDermott: Understanding
persistent gender gaps in STEM,



Science 368, Issue 6497, 1317-1319 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba7377


S.J. Ceci and W.M. Williams: Understanding current causes
of women’s underrepresentation in science PNAS 108 3157–3162
(2011). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1014871108

Inquirybased learning site

Equatiy and teaching math Blog post by Stan Yoshinobu




Podcasts

Mathematically uncensored Podcast