From spring 2016 to fall 2018 I was the lead organizer of the Directed Reading Program (DRP) at UT. The DRP is a semester-long reading program which pairs undergraduate and graduate students to read in mathematics on a topic of interest to the undergraduate. In addition to a learning platform, the DRP provides a mentoring relationship for the undergraduate and an opportunity to experience learning math in an environment more akin to being a graduate student or researcher. UT’s DRP includes a mandatory exposition component; our mentors help students learn to speak clearly about math on a weekly basis, and coach students through a symposium talk at the end of the term.
The DRP serves all students, but aims specifically to broaden participation in mathematics through having disproportionate impact on stigmatized groups. This is achieved in part by addressing stereotype threat by removing the minority undergraduate from a large group or classroom environment, where the student’s marginalized identity is primed, and placing the student in a private environment which reinforces the students identity as a mathematician. Further, rejection sensitivity is mitigated by de-emphasizing performance (as in a course) or production (as in a research project) and focusing instead on bettering meta-cognitive skills and on topical learning. Mentors emphasize that it is very difficult to learn mathematics and focus on helping students develop the tools and ability to read and learn math for this project and in the future.
Our DRP also disproportionately serves underrepresented groups in a literal sense, we very actively solicit and accept stigmatized students. In fall 2017 our DRP supported 62 students, of which 38% are female and 30% are a racial or ethnic minority under represented in mathematics. In Spring 2018 we support 60 students, of which 40% are female and 22% are URM. This is the largest and most diverse DRP at any university thus far.
Interested in getting involved with DRP at your own university? Check out the national DRP network here. You can also read about the DRP from a student's perspective in this article from the UT College of Natural Sciences.