Diversity and Your Department

Resources for addressing diversity and inclusion

Math, Statistics & Computer Science

American Mathematical Society. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from https://www.ams.org/programs/diversity/diversity

This webpage contains numerous links to data resources and organizations that work towards increased diversity in mathematics. This is a good place to start if you need straight data or to get hands on with programs and grants that aid in your diversity goals.

Charleston, L. J., George, P. L., Jackson, J. F. L., Berhanu, J., & Amechi, M. H. (2014). Navigating underrepresented STEM spaces: Experiences of Black women in U.S. computing science higher education programs who actualize success. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 7(3), 166–176. (PDF)

This article focuses on the intersectionality of race and gender in the computing field. Charleston et al. argue that both instructors and students must constantly examine and reconfigure their own prejudices.

Saad, C. S., Meyer, O. L., Dhindsa, M., & Zane, N. (2015). Domain Identification Moderates the Effect of Positive Stereotypes on Chinese American Women's Math Performance. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21(1), 162–167. (PDF)

This study examines how positive stereotyping affects student performance, and finds that students that already identified with that field (in this case, mathematics) did better than the control group and those who did not previously identify with the field did worse than the control group. This shows that positive stereotyping, sometimes thought of as complimentary, can be harmful and exclusionary.

Whittaker, J. A., & Montgomery, B. L. (2012). Cultivating Diversity and Competency in STEM: Challenges and Remedies for Removing Virtual Barriers to Constructing Diverse Higher Education Communities of Success. The Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 11, A44-A51. (PDF)

This study examines why there is a large divide between the success of minority students in Historically Black Colleges and majority colleges. Whittaker and Montgomery recommend programs to help minority students succeed based on efforts that have been successful. This is an even-handed overview and recommended for all readers.