Reflections on a DEI Workshop for Undergraduate Research Mentors
In May, the Center for Minorities in the Mathematical Sciences hosted a workshop entitled “Creating a Better Summer Experience: A DEI Workshop for REU Directors and Faculty Mentors.” Presenters Carol Bennett, Pamela Harris, Abbe Herzig, Alicia Prieto-Langarica, and Sarah Sword shared a wealth of ideas for how to support students from traditionally marginalized groups in mathematics research. We learned so much in this workshop, but we decided on a few ideas we’d like to share with you.
When you form a research team, tell the student researchers why you picked them.
If you have ever assembled a team of research students, you probably chose the team’s members for a variety of reasons. For instance, if you formed a research group from your own college or university, you might have offered a spot to a student from one of your classes who is enthusiastic and isn’t afraid to ask clarifying questions in class. Maybe one of your group members was chosen because they have an impressive work ethic and strong communication skills. If you have ever formed an REU student group, perhaps you selected a participant who has taken several programming courses to collaborate with a student who has experience working on teams and tutoring.
We have many reasons we want to work with the students we choose to work with. These reasons generally relate to the students’ strengths. Why not tell them that? Tell them specifically why you chose them for the job! This suggestion from the workshop was one that stuck out to us as potentially being very impactful. Many of us have had an experience as a student where a mentor gave us some words of encouragement that we still think back on as being an important motivator. Telling a student why you chose them for a team might be one of these moments for them. Most of us feel insecure at one time or another. For students working on research for the first time, it’s probably exceptional for them not to feel insecure about what they bring to the table. If you indicate to them that they have an important skill that will be useful to the research team, they’ll feel more confident in their ability to contribute.
We can also build on this advice. Let’s say you chose a student because she is good at playing with examples. If she suggests during a research meeting that the group takes a step back and thinks about how a certain proof strategy might work on a specific example, point it out to everyone. “That’s a great suggestion! That’s why I knew we needed you on our team. You’re good at reminding us how important it is to build intuition by playing with examples.” Make sure each member of the team gets “caught” exemplifying the skill that earned them their place.
Emphasize that mentors are also students and don’t know all the answers.
When we begin a research project with students, they may believe that we have all the ideas and tools needed to solve the research problem. However, this is rarely the case, and we should let students know that. As mentors, it is important that we model ourselves as students and as a part of the learning process. For example, if you and your students have been trying a technique unsuccessfully and a student has an idea, you should be receptive to the idea and use this as a moment in which the student becomes the teacher and you become the student. Even if the idea does not work out, by being receptive to student’s ideas we may learn something new about the research problem, and students may gain confidence to share other ideas they may have. This could lead to resolving a research problem in which the student’s idea led to the solution.
View student researchers as collaborators and not just mentees.
As research mentors, we provide students with valuable information about research problems, different techniques to use, and various ways of disseminating the research. However, it is also important for us to help students build their identities as mathematicians, which is especially important for new researchers. By doing so, we can shape how students view the math research process and how they view themselves in the larger mathematical community. We can use our mentoring roles to build a great team that will benefit both the student and the outcomes of the research. Instead of viewing research with students solely as a mentor/mentee relationship, view student researchers as collaborators.
As collaborators, students may become more assertive and take on roles that they had not considered before. For example, they may take the lead on the first draft of writing, on coordinating schedules and meeting times, or in being the corresponding author on a paper submission. This will help students build up their leadership skills and become more engaged in the math research process as a whole. Students may also be more willing to try out new ideas or techniques not traditionally used to tackle problems if they are more confident in themselves and have a sense that they belong on the research team. Research mentors will also benefit from having a more collaborative research team because the workload will be shared amongst the entire team, so time can be spent elsewhere in doing tasks that students are not able to do, e.g., applying for funding. Creating a sense of belonging through collaboration allows students to explore their strengths in research and be successful in team work.
If students feel like they belong in the mathematical community, they are much more likely to pursue a profession in the mathematical sciences. Each of the ideas shared above can help to promote this sense of belonging, especially for minority students. What is one idea that you might implement the next time you work on research with a group of student collaborators?
Allison Henrich is a Professor of Mathematics at Seattle University. She co-authored the book A Mathematician's Practical Guide to Mentoring Undergraduate Research.
Shanise Walker is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Shanise enjoys doing research with undergraduate collaborators and finds it rewarding to do so.