5th October

For the first EmpowHER hour of Fall quarter we are going to discuss how a sense of belonging and community in academics can improve outcomes for women in mathematics. Our discussion will center around the following excerpt from this article (use your institutional login to get access to the full article via the "Get Access" button on the right):

"supporting females’ sense of belonging by communicating an incremental view of math intelligence in educational environments may begin to address pipeline issues for women in science, math, engineering, and technology. Doing so may help eliminate the culture of “talent” and the mentality of the “weed-out system” that pervades many of these classrooms and that can send fixed-ability messages to women. Learning environments that foster a culture of potentiality in which anyone can develop their skills may create room for many more females to feel that they belong in these fields and, thus, to encourage many more females to pursue math and science degrees."

We will discuss what we can do as a community of peers to foster a sense of belonging and to encourage an incremental view of math intelligence (i.e. a growth mindset) in and out of the classroom.

19th October

This week we will talk about the representation of women in STEM professions in pop culture. We will discuss some of the points made in this article, and share our thoughts on the motto "if she can see it, she can be it".

2nd November

This week during EmpowHER Hour, we will discuss our self-concept of intelligence and how this may affect the way we evaluate our own progress or the way we interact in the classroom. Check out the article our discussion is based on here and here.

16th November

This week we will discuss career pathways for women in STEM. We will be referencing an article which takes a slightly different approach to the topic of the "leaky pipeline"; are women leaving academia before they reach tenure-track positions or are they getting stuck in non-tenure track academic positions and staying there rather than progressing down the pipeline?

30th November

For our final AWM discussion we are bringing back one of our most talked about topics from last year: How do I want my advisor to react if/when I start crying? More broadly, how do we address emotions in academia? Take a look at these blog posts (post 1, post 2), and think back to your own personal experiences. What advice from the posts do you agree with? What would you tweak? What do you definitely not agree with?

13th April

For the first EmpowHER hour of Spring quarter we are going to discuss the retention (or lack thereof) of women in STEM careers and come up with ideas to foster communities of women within our department and beyond. Take a look at this article to get some ideas!

27th April

This week we will discuss the gender gap in STEM at the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty levels. At UCSC and many other institutions there is a clear drop between the number of women undergraduate math majors and the women math graduate students. There is then another drop to get to the small number of women math faculty. This article presents some data on the gender gap in STEM and offers  ideas about how we can increase retention of women in STEM.

11th May

The article this week gives data about how the gender composition of graduate cohorts in STEM affects the progress of women towards the completion of their degrees. We will discuss how to find community and support in our department despite small cohort sizes.

25th May

Today's article presents the Roots of STEM Project which "investigates how individual, family, and institutional factors interactively influence students' decisions to pursue STEM as a major."

8th June

For our final empowerHER of the quarter, we will be discussing work-life balance. It is increasingly more common for early career researchers to report feeling a lack of work-life balance and notice declining mental and physical health as well as, at times, declining work quality. This article outlines 10 tips for creating a healthier work-life balance and explains how and why we should strive to make these adjustments.