Resources

Diversity Statement Writing resources: guidance from the Office for Inclusive Excellence.

In the Math Department: 

Community, Outreach, and Mentoring Program (COMP): This is a graduate student led program designed to foster community and inclusivity within the UCI Mathematics Department. COMP is an expansion of the Math Department Peer Mentoring Program, and was formed to address student concerns highlighted by the department in Spring 2020 (at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic). The program will include a weekly seminar, let by the COMP Fellow, covering topics relating to student health and well-being to broader social issues that affect the mathematical community and beyond. Another large component will include pairing incoming graduate students with peer mentors to help make the transition to grad school easier, with a special emphasis on mentoring students from diverse backgrounds and retaining them in the program.  Kelly Isham and Jesse Kreger founded COMP in Summer 2020. John Peca-Medlin is the inaugural COMP Fellow for the 2020-2021 academic year.

DECADE stands for Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience. DECADE Faculty Mentors dedicate their efforts to nurturing a positive diversity climate within their academic programs by serving as a resource to graduate students and faculty. DECADE Faculty Mentors also collaborate with Equity Advisors and graduate students from their school to promote an inclusive climate for all students. Professor Alessandra Pantano is the Math Department DECADE mentor.

The UAW union stewards in mathematics are graduate students: Cody Morrin (cmorrin@uci.edu) and Byron Osterweil (osterweb@uci.edu).

Faces in Mathematics:  This club targets mathematics students that are from underrepresented groups, transfer students, or first-generation generation students.  Faculty advisor: Bob Pelayo.

On Campus: 

California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP): This is a program that strengthens STEM pathways for students from underrepresented populations by providing resources, opportunities, and information that focuses on how to successfully navigate science and engineering.

UCI Cross-Cultural Center: Since its establishment in 1974, the Cross-Cultural Center continues to provide many students a home away from home. And for many, it remains a safe space from which students may launch their involvement in a myriad of campus programs and leadership opportunities.

ADVANCE program in Equity and Diversity: The mission of UCI ADVANCE is to promote an inclusive culture for faculty and graduate student excellence.

Society for Advancing Chicanos, Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS): SACNAS is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists from college students to professionals in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership. The 2020 conference will be held online, from October 19 - 24. Here is a link to UCI SACNAS chapter. Math Faculty co-mentors: Bob Pelayo and Jesse Wolfson.

TA Professional Development Program (TADPA): this is a multi-day series of discipline-specific, interactive workshops designed to provide new TAs with skills and information that will help them to begin their instructional careers at UCI. Please see  their Antiracist Pedagogy Reading List. 

School of Physical Sciences resourses and Inclusive Excellence Leadership. 

UCI's First Generation Initiative: University-wide events regarding the unique challenges students that are the first in their family to attend college face

A more extensive list of campus diversity resources can be found here. 

Outside Campus:

Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM): The AWM’s mission is to promote equal opportunity and the equal treatment of women and girls in the mathematical sciences, supporting individuals and institutions as we all work to make a more just and equitable community. The info on student chapters can be found here. 

National Association of Mathematicians (NAM): This is a non-profit professional organization in the mathematical sciences with membership open to all persons interested in promoting excellence in the mathematical sciences and promoting the mathematical development of all underrepresented minorities.

Math Alliance: The Math Alliance states its goal: to ensure "that every underrepresented or underserved American student with the talent and the ambition has the opportunity to earn a doctoral degree in a mathematical science."

Society of Mexican American Engineers & Scientists (MAES): MAES aims to increase the number of Mexican Americans and other Hispanics in the technical and scientific fields.

Statistics, Research and More

Implicit Bias: Racial Gaps and Scientific Gaps Lee Jussim, Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University, gives a talk on implicit bias along with suggested materials. Lee Jussim is a social psychologist and Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at Rutgers. His work addresses political psychology, stereotypes & prejudice, intolerance, and challenges to the validity and credibility of social science research. He has published over 100 articles and six books, including, in 2012, Social Perception and Social Reality, which received the the American Association Publishers Prose Book Award.

Diversity and Admission Predictors for Mathematics PhD Success A team of faculty and graduate students at the Math Department performed a study of admission criteria and their influence on success in a Math graduate program. The main idea of this project was to find correlates of female and URM student recruitment, retention and success, with the goal to improve the climate in the Math graduate program. A short account of this study was published in Notices of the AMS.  

Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: Statistics by NSF on the trends in the participation of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering fields. Topics include higher-education enrollments, degrees, institutions, and financial support and employment status, occupations, sectors, and salaries.

Becoming an LGBTQ+ Ally Seminar: Hannah Gorback, the AGS LGBTQ+ Engagement Chair and a PhD student in social ecology, gave a wonderful presentation covering a basic training on the current state of gender identity discourse and some best practices for allyship, including pronoun etiquette during the COMP Seminar in 2021. If you were unable to attend the seminar, you can view the slides which include a list of great resources, the 21 minute recording of the presentation, and a longer version of the presentation which was hosted by AWM. You can also reach out to Hannah directly if you have any questions regarding related materials and resources.

Unconscious Bias at Work, a powerful movie by Google.

A video to explain why UCI requires the statement of inclusive excellence activities.