Partnership for Rural Women in Math Careers (INCLUDES)
“…I want that to be true for other girls as well, so that they can have the opportunity to participate in science and math regardless of where they live or what their backgrounds might be. So that they can have a positive experience and have the world of career choices and education choices be open to them in their futures.”
~RPP Participant A Concerning Problem:
Young women from rural areas are not pursuing careers involving advanced mathematics, even though they are skilled and capable mathematicians, scientists, and engineers .- Women constitute 47% of the overall workforce, but only 28% of the combined sciences & engineering workforce. 1
- “Although rural students have been shown to perform on par with non-rural students on measures of math and scientific ability, rural students are typically limited in terms of access to advanced coursework.” 2
A Promising Future:
Systematically identifying and addressing barriers preventing young women from rural areas from viewing themselves as competent and skilled mathematicians can lead to a more diverse representation of perspectives, backgrounds, and approaches in careers involving advanced mathematics.What we’re doing:
We are convening a Research-to-Practice Partnership that is collaboratively identifying and beginning to address the barriers to participation for rural girls pursuing advanced mathematics. The partnership includes:- young women in grades kindergarten through post-secondary from rural areas,
- parents,
- formal and informal educators,
- STEM professionals who use advanced mathematics,
- policy-makers,
- and STEM education researchers.
Project Update:
The INCLUDES project has started to wrap up by holding their final RPP meeting, continuing to write a dissemination paper, and finalizing their Alliance grant proposal for submission. At the final RPP meeting, RPP members tested out some potential Alliance activities. RPP members shared insights with a representative of Scientista for expanding Scientista’s programming to reach more rural young women. An RPP member also shared a “day-in-the-life” video of her experience as a rural educator, offering a glimpse into some of the assets and challenges for broadening participation in rural communities.
If you are interested in finding out more about the project or participating in the conversation, please contact us.
Project Partners
Project Funder
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant #2040921. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
Project Staff
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