Broadening participation in the mathematical sciences has been an integral part of AIM’s mission since its founding in 1994. AIM works to ensure inclusion of traditionally under-represented groups such as women, racial/ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, faculty at schools that emphasize undergraduate education, and junior researchers. We emphasize full inclusion in standard AIM research workshops and SQuaREs, and also undertake special projects that support inclusion of diverse groups of mathematicians and enhance the mathematical workforce. AIM is a member of the Math Institutes Diversity Committee, which is co-chaired by Leslie Hogben, AIM Associate Director for Diversity.
Full Inclusion
AIM uses proven strategies for ensuring inclusion of diverse groups of researchers in AIM workshops and SQuaREs. During the fall when AIM is accepting proposals for workshops and SQuaREs, AIM Directors and members of the AIM Human Resources Board reach out to potential organizers to encourage members of diverse groups to submit proposals. The AIM Scientific Board considers the diversity of the proposed participants and comments from the Human Resources Board in evaluating proposals. Organizers are encouraged to think broadly about participants who might both benefit from and contribute to their workshop; if the organizers request assistance, the AIM Directors and AIM Human Resources Board can suggest such participants.
AIM’s impact on broadening participation goes beyond recruiting diverse participants. Not all types of participation are equally effective, especially for those who are not already well established. AIM has strategies to fully engage all participants in each workshop. As a result, participation in an AIM workshop can be much more stimulating to a participant’s research program that participation in an ordinary week-long conference.
Special Projects
Throughout its history, AIM has also supported a variety of special projects that enhance the mathematical workforce and contribute to the broader impacts of AIM’s work as an institute. These projects include Research Experiences for Undergraduate Faculty (REUF), a program for undergraduate faculty who want to mentor undergraduate students in research, started in 2008 and now a partnership with ICERM; and Math Teachers’ Circle (MTC), a national outreach program connecting K-12 mathematics teachers with research mathematicians, started in 2006.
Diversity Demographic Data for 2021-22 Annual Report
We first present the requested demographic data for all participants in AIM Workshops, SQuaREs, and Research Communities in Charts 1-2, together with percentages. After explanatory notes for the tables, we then present data separately for Workshops, SQuaREs, and Research Communities in Charts 3-8. Note that to be included in this data, a participant received a payment funded by this grant (so, for example, a Research Community where participants did not receive such funding is not included here, even though it is discussed elsewhere in this report).
ALL PARTICIPANTS (Charts 1-2)
WORKSHOPS (Charts 3-4)
AIM uses additional strategies to ensure inclusion of diverse groups of researchers in AIM Workshops, including:
- The tools created by AIM to assist in finding researchers who are members of groups that are underrepresented who might otherwise be overlooked.
- The involvement of AIM Directors in all stages of workshop development.
- An open application process for one quarter of the places in workshops.
- Recruiting of diverse applicants for workshops by AIM Directors and members of the Human Resources (HR) Board.
It is also worth noting that the impact of an AIM workshop on potentially marginalized participants is magnified by the role the AIM staff plays in the workshop, which helps ensure the active engagement of all participants.
SQuaRES (Charts 5-6)
Unlike workshops and communities, SQuaREs are determined at the time the SQuaRE is selected, so particular attention is paid to the diversity of participants in the selection process. Communities AIM Research Communities (ARCs) were an innovation in response to the pandemic. The initial ARCs, for which data is reported here, are very diverse in many ways (see Charts 7-8). In addition to being virtual, the long-term, less intense nature of ARCs makes them attractive to those with less time to devote to research, including faculty at Non-Doctoral Mathematics Departments, and people in industry, business, or government, as well as those who are unable to travel.
RESEARCH COMMUNITIES (Charts 7-8)
CHANGES IN DATA REPORTING
The date reported here has some changes caused by changes in guidance from NSF. In addition, in this annual report there were no non-research activities to report, so the data has not been disaggregated in that regard.
Diversity Demographic Data for 2020-21 Annual Report
ALL PARTICIPANTS (Charts 1-2)
WORKSHOPS (Charts 3-4)
AIM uses additional strategies to ensure inclusion of diverse groups of researchers in AIM Workshops, including:
- The tools created by AIM to assist in finding researchers who are members of groups that are underrepresented who might otherwise be overlooked.
- The involvement of AIM Directors in all stages of workshop development.
- An open application process for one quarter of the places in workshops.
- Recruiting of diverse applicants for workshops by AIM Directors and members of the Human Resources (HR) Board.
It is also worth noting that the impact of an AIM workshop on potentially marginalized participants is magnified by the role the AIM staff plays in the workshop, which helps ensure the active engagement of all participants.
SQuaRES (Charts 5-6)
Unlike workshops and communities, SQuaREs are determined at the time the SQuaRE is selected, so particular attention is paid to the diversity of participants in the selection process. Communities AIM Research Communities (ARCs) were an innovation in response to the pandemic. The initial ARCs, for which data is reported here, are very diverse in many ways (see Charts 7-8). In addition to being virtual, the long-term, less intense nature of ARCs makes them attractive to those with less time to devote to research, including faculty at Non-Doctoral Mathematics Departments, and people in industry, business, or government, as well as those who are unable to travel.
TERMS
Women: The percentage is determined by the number who self-identify as female or woman among those who responded
Genderqueer/nonbinary: The percentage is determined by the number who self-identify as genderqueer or nonbinary among those who responded
UR genders: Combines women and genderqueer/nonbinary
UR race: People who self-identify as a member of one or more of the following groups are counted in under-represented race: Black, Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
UR ethnicity: People who self-identify as Hispanic/Latinx are counted in under-represented ethnicity
UR race/ethnicity: Combines under-represented race and ethnicity
Junior: A junior participant who has received the PhD in the past 5 years or not yet received it
Percentages are determined by those who self-identified in the category among respondents. Those who declined to answer a particular question are included among the number who responded to the survey, so the true percentage in each category is likely slightly higher than the reported percentage
NDMD: An NDMD institution is a college or university that is on one of the lists of ‘Bachelors’ or ‘Masters’ provided by the AMS http://www.ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/groups. An NDMD faculty member is a faculty member of any department at an NDMD institution. The percentage of NDMD faculty is determined by the number of faculty at NDMD institutions among participants who are US based. Since ‘Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI)’ has a technical meaning for NSF and since to the best of our knowledge there is no list available of PUIs, we use being at a Non-Doctoral Mathematics Department (NDMD) to measure the inclusion of PUI faculty
US-based: A US-based participant listed a US institution. The percentage of US-based particpants uses total number of participants as the denominator, since US-based is determined for information supplied when registering.
