Women In Mathematics Research Articles

Women in Science and Mathematics in Japan and Asia-Oceania

The current landscape of women’s participation in STEM in Japan and the broader Asia-Oceania region still exhibits gender disparities. Despite high academic performance in STEM among Japanese students, a persistently low percentage of women pursue advanced STEM degrees, particularly PhDs in mathematics, where Japan ranks among the lowest globally. To address this gap, Japan and other countries have implemented various initiatives, such as STEM outreach programs, affirmative actions, and policy recommendations from advisory bodies like the Science Council of Japan and for mathematics in particular, associations of women mathematicians in the different continents.. Additionally, the newly established Asian and Oceanian Women in Mathematics (AOWM) organization seeks to support and promote women in mathematics through networking, mentoring, and collaborative events. The AOWM has also encouraged its members to strengthen their organizations and address/resolve the gender bias in their home countries.

Women in mathematics: Stories of overcoming

This article explores the remarkable contribution of women to the field of mathematics throughout history. Traditionally underestimated and underrepresented in this field, women have played crucial roles in the advancement of mathematical knowledge. This paper examines the lives and accomplishments of some notable women in mathematics, highlighting their achievements and overcoming gender barriers. The role of women in the history of mathematics is often underestimated, but their contribution is vast and significant. This article explores the beauty of this history, highlighting remarkable women who have defied gender norms to leave a lasting mark on the field. From Hippatia, a 4th century mathematician and philosopher, to Ada Lovelace, history's first programmer, women have played crucial roles in the evolution of mathematics. The article also addresses the long period in which women were excluded from academic institutions, even when they made substantial contributions. The narrative highlights the resilience and determination of women who persisted despite the barriers. The modern era has witnessed an increase in the recognition of women's mathematical work, with figures such as Mary Cartwright and Emmy Noether standing out. The article highlights not only individual achievements, but also collective efforts to promote gender equality in mathematics. By exploring this history, the aim is to inspire a renewed appreciation for the role of women in mathematics and to encourage future generations of women to pursue their mathematical interests, thus contributing to a more inclusive and diverse discipline.

Hidden in the Archive of Gender and Science: The Agonistics of Knowledge and Learning

ABSTRACT In this article the author looks at processes of becoming a woman philosopher and scientist in eighteenth-century Europe, by focusing on educational experiences, discourses and practices revolving around the Italian mathematician, scientist and philosopher Maria Gaetana Agnesi. The author uses the Arendtian notion of agonism as a lens through which she reads Agnesi’s manuscripts at the Ambrosiana Biblioteca in Milan, by pointing to the non-discursive affects that these documents emanate. By tracing women mathematicians’ historical emergence as subjects of knowledge, as well as creators of philosophy and culture, the author proposes a reconsideration of the history of women’s science education as an agonistic process that has left traces in various archives of gender and science.

Women mathematicians on screen

Women mathematicians on screen

ANALYSIS OF THE EDUCATIONAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE THEME OF BLACK WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS

This article examines the experience of carrying out an educational presentation of scientific dissemination on the participation of black women throughout the history of mathematics, for high school students who visited the Campus of Caraguatatuba of the Federal Institute of São Paulo (IFSP), in May 29, 2023. Therefore, this work articulates research, teaching and extension, in an interdisciplinary way, with the aim of examining the pedagogical possibilities of the thematic axis of black women in mathematics. To support the investigation, a theoretical review was carried out on this subject, through the search for academic works on the subject, using, for this, the “Google Scholar” tool. A questionnaire, which was designed to ascertain the views of those present on the topics covered, was answered by 15 high school students who attended the presentation. The results of this research point to the importance of the concept of intersectionality that takes into account gender, race and class identities when investigating the trajectories of black women who are professionally dedicated to mathematics, as researchers and educators.

The Effect of Stereotype Threat on Academic Success of Female Students

Stereotype threat occurs when educational institutions remind us of the stereotype that men are more successful in mathematics and that women's mathematics achievement is negatively affected. In this study, the effect of stereotype threat on the academic achievement of high school students was examined. In the designed experimental study, there are two experimental groups (threat 1 and 2) and a control group. The effects of two different stereotype threats were compared in the experimental groups. After the explanations to reveal stereotype threat in the experimental groups, a mathematics test was used and the "State Anxiety and Stereotype Awareness Scale" was administered at the end of the test. In this study conducted in the 10th grade of high school, data was also obtained from male students. According to the data, while there was no significant difference in terms of academic success between the study groups consisting of female students, it was seen that the academic success of the threat 1 group was higher among males. In terms of academic achievement, threat 1 group shows the greatest inequality between genders. It was observed that the state anxiety levels of female students in the experimental groups increased. According to the findings, in addition to a positive and low-level significant relationship between anxiety and academic success in female students, there is also a mediating relationship between anxiety and stereotype threat and academic success. There is no difference between male student groups. Awareness of stereotypes was low in both genders, and it was concluded that boys' awareness was higher than girls.

‘Ever yours, mathematically’: women’s letters and the mathematical imagination

ABSTRACT In this paper the author looks at the letters of two renowned women mathematicians and scientists of the Victorian period, Mary Somerville and Ada Lovelace, while also considering the imperceptibility of Sophie Germain, an important French mathematician and philosopher in their epistolary exchanges and philosophical writings. Drawing on the importance of mathematical correspondences and epistolary education in the creation, circulation and dissemination of knowledge, as well as in processes of formal and informal learning, the author argues that Lovelace’s and Somerville’s letters leave traces of a remarkable genealogical line of women’s mentorship and personal relations in the nineteenth century world of British mathematics in the backdrop of contradictory discourses around gender, mathematics, and science education.

Promoting Women in Mathematics through Creating a Learning Community and Encouraging Double Majors

The Mathematical Sciences Department at Shenandoah University focused on increasing the participation of women in the mathematics program by fostering a welcoming learning community and promoting double majors. Data from the past decade is presented. During this time, the program saw an increase in women undergraduate mathematics majors from 11% to as high as 71%. This paper describes the initiatives taken to make these changes.

Reading letters of an eighteenth-century femme philosophe: love as an existential and creative force in Émilie Du Châtelet’s correspondence

ABSTRACT In this article the author considers the letters of Émilie Du Châtelet, an eighteenth-century woman mathematician, philosopher and scientist. The central argument of the paper is that Du Châtelet’s letters leave traces of the process of becoming a femme philosophe, while also throwing light in her involvement in the scientific, philosophical and cultural formations of the early modern period. In this context Du Châtelet’s personal letters carry inscriptions of love as a creative force of life and are tightly intertwined with her ‘laboratory letters’, her correspondence with important mathematicians and scientists of her times. In thus making connections between ‘the personal’ and the ‘scientific’ in Du Châtelet’s correspondence, the paper sketches a feminist critical perspective on a plane of thinking around love as an existential force in its interrelation with mathematics, science and philosophy.

Exceptional women in science education? Émilie Du Châtelet and Maria Gaetana Agnesi

ABSTRACT In this paper the author considers the educational experiences and ideas of Émilie Du Châtelet and Maria Gaetana Agnesi, two women mathematicians, scientists and philosophers in eighteenth-century Europe. By tracing their historical emergence as subjects of scientific knowledge, as well as creators of philosophy and culture, the author argues that we need to revisit the history of women’s science education and deconstruct the image of “the exceptional woman”. In doing so the author proposes the notion of the event as a useful theoretical lens through which we can understand women’s historical constitution as mathematicians, philosophers and scientists.

The relationship between students' gender and their confidence in the correctness of their solutions to complex and difficult mathematics problems

It is well established that men more frequently exhibit over-confidence than women in mathematics. Less is known about the relationship between gender and problem-specific confidence judgments and whether this relationship depends on problem difficulty. To investigate the relationship between gender, problem difficulty, and problem-specific confidence judgments, including how calibrated and under/over-confident men and women are, we examine data from 349 women and 279 men who were instructed to solve 13 difficult and complex mathematics problems and report their confidence in the correctness of their solutions. We find that men were more confident than women and that the gender gap in confidence decreases with increasing problem difficulty. Women were better calibrated than men and the gender gap in calibration increased with problem difficulty. As problem difficulty increased, women, but not men, transitioned from being under- to over-confident.

Her x's and y's: Limericks about Women Mathematicians

Her x's and y's: Limericks about Women Mathematicians

Virtual Sonia Kovalevsky Day Mathematics Outreach Events for Middle School Girls

Sonia Kovalevsky Days (SK Days) are nationally-held outreach events that are commonly organized by local chapters of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) to encourage young women to continue their study of mathematics. The AWM Student Chapter at Worcester Polytechnic Institute hosted virtual renditions of SK Day for middle school girls in Spring 2020 and 2021. This paper discusses the implementation of these events, including the virtual program logistics and five interactive online mathematics activities. Participant feedback suggests a successful transition from an in-person to online format of SK Day, with benefits to both the middle school participants and the undergraduate student volunteers. The activities and online resources described in this article have the potential to be utilized in future hybrid outreach events.

ПИСЬМА ДРУЗЕЙ И РОДСТВЕННИКОВ С.В. КОВАЛЕВСКОЙ САРАТОВСКОМУ ГУБЕРНАТОРУ А.И. КОСИЧУ (1891)

The article analyzes the content of the letters from the friends and relatives of S.V. Kovalevskaya (F.V. Korvin-Krukovsky, S.I. Lamansky, Yu.V. Lermontova) to Saratov Governor A.I. Kosich (1891), kept in the State Archives of the Saratov Region. The materials from the archival correspondence add numerous details to the picture of the everyday reality for Sofya Kovalevskaya’s family and circle. The archival materials introduced into the scientific circulation for the first time are of interest in terms of their content, historical context, and the public and cultural figures mentioned. In the center of the published epistolary sources are focused on the reaction of the friends and relatives of S.V. Kovalevskaya on her death and the question of the arrangement for her daughter’s future. Based on the materials of the correspondence, the authors of the article make an attempt to clarify the characteristics of the public sentiments in Sofya Kovalevskaya’s circle. Particular attention is paid to the role of A.I. Kosich in an attempt to attract the attention of the Russian public and the power elites to the task of returning the famous Russian woman mathematician to Russia, and after her death – to perpetuating her memory. Materials of the published correspondence allow accentuating the subject of patriotic moods in Sofya Kovalevskaya’s circle, as well as the commitment to the traditions of the Russian national consciousness and the interest in the ideas connected with the role of Orthodox-Slavic identity in the civilizational and historical choice of Russia.

‘They are just women, what do they know?’: The lived experiences of African women doctoral students in the mathematics discipline in South African universities

Background: The presence of African women in mathematics has been nearly invisible. The underrepresentation of African women in this field is a result of their historical socio-political marginalisation. The mathematics discipline is politicised, racialised, and gendered to systematically oppress African women. The mathematics fields continue to be a masculine and white male dominated field, which reinforces and preserves masculine culture which is hostile and unwelcoming to women. African women mathematicians are further oppressed because of their racial and gendered identities in fields that are ideologically founded on proving the racial, gendered, social, cultural, and intellectual inferiority of Africans.Aim: The article aims to exemplify the lived experiences of African women doctoral students in the mathematics disciplines in South African universities. The article critically interrogates the factors that influence the participation, progression, and retention of African female doctoral students in the mathematics disciplines.Setting: The article comes from a larger study which investigated the reasons why African doctorate students do not become academics after they receive their doctorates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in South African universities. This paper focuses on the experiences of 10 African female doctoral students at five universities in South Africa. The universities were selected because they ranked in the top five in South Africa. Two of the institutions are historically Black universities and the rest are historically white institutions, with one historically Afrikaner-speaking university—between 2019–2021.Methods: This article employed a qualitative research methodology, where semi-structures interviews were conducted with 10 African female doctoral participants in mathematics disciplines in five South African universities and is underpinned by the theory of intersectionality.Results: The findings reveal how interlocking systems of oppression continue to influence the recruitment, retention, and progression of women in the mathematics discipline, thereby providing insight into the mechanisms that need to be altered and/or put in place to actively recruit African female doctoral students and retain them in academic positions.Conclusion: The article concludes that despite the mathematics field proclaiming neutrality and objectivity nevertheless, African women still experience racism, sexism, and classism. The experiences of African women in mathematics are vital to understanding the reasons why there is a high attrition rate of African women in the mathematics discipline in academia and why they do not become academics when they could transform this discipline.

Promoting Women in Mathematics: Experiences from Chile

Promoting Women in Mathematics: Experiences from Chile

Flow Computation Pioneer Irmgard Flügge-Lotz (1903–1974)

Volumes of this journal typically include one or two historical articles, many of which celebrate the life and impact in fluid mechanics of a recently deceased contributor to the field. The Editorial Committee recently stepped beyond this model to examine whom might have been missed over the years. Naturally, even when a candidate is identified, the passing of time makes it hard to find authors with living memory of the subject. Fortunately, in the case of Professor Dr. Irmgard Flügge-Lotz there is a rare opportunity: An appropriate article appeared in the collection Women in Mathematics, coauthored by her first PhD student John Spreiter and her husband Wilhelm Flügge, both her colleagues at Stanford University. We republish this article to share her remarkable story and contributions in fluid mechanics, as she worked with Prandtl, led a research group at ONERA ( Office national d'études et de recherches aérospatiales), and eventually became the first woman professor of engineering at Stanford.

Everyday Activism: Gender-Based Service in Stem

There has been and continues to be a substantial amount of work done to encourage, support, and retain women in mathematics. However, very little has been written about the faculty leading these gender-based initiatives, most of whom are women. This dynamic—women advocating on behalf of other women—is connected to identity-based activist movements. In the following, I describe how I have started to see gender-based work in STEM as a form of institutional activism. I then describe how this change of conceptualization led me to rethink the landscape of gender-based work in STEM. I reflect on literature from institutional activism and describe how that literature has changed my own engagement in gender-based service. My goal in this article is to provide math practitioners with some ideas for reflecting on their own actions in contesting historical forms of sexism. As we begin to understand the rules, norms, and cultures that constrain us, we will be better equipped to strategically contest them and create the sorts of institutional change that we want to see. I conclude the article with a series of questions to challenge all of us to think strategically about the future of our work supporting women in STEM.

Women in Mathematics

Women in Mathematics

“The question is not why I don’t work in a maths department; the question is why should I?” Women mathematicians’ experiences of power relations and gender symbols during their PhD

ABSTRACT This paper aims to investigate the reasons some female mathematicians give to justify their choice to not work in academia after finishing their doctoral studies. Nine female mathematicians who finished a PhD in Sweden answered a written questionnaire. Through collective narrative analysis, two main tracks were identified. One narrative described the struggle with self-identity in a gendered structure which included implicit power, while the other was more positive about exposure to discrimination, and highlighted the desire to work with applied mathematics. Through deductive thematic analysis, the results show that the main obstacle raised was the difficulty of getting a job in academia after their doctoral studies, especially permanent positions, without support. Compared to previous research, the lack of family-oriented political policies was not considered a main problem. Instead, the reasons provided by the respondents are structural problems, such as access to post-doc positions, and the stress of having to get research grants, as well as cultural aspects within the structure, including implicit and explicit use of power.