Strength in Numbers

The collaboration between mathematics professors Deborah Lawrence and Tina Mancuso has resulted in impressive foundation support for innovative programs to increase the number of women pursuing opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematicsematics (known as the STEM subjects).

Recently, the two co-authored a successful $588,815 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant which will provide scholarships for women, minorities, and students of low income majoring in a STEM field.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Deborah Lawrence ’88, earned a B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science at Russell Sage College, a M.A. in Mathematics at the University at Albany and a Ph.D. in Mathematics(Dynamical Systems) at the University at Albany. She is the faculty advisor to Sage’s SMaRT (Science, Mathematicsematics, Research, and Technology) Women and chair of the Faculty Development Committee.

What attracted you to a career in mathematics and academics?

What I like about mathematics is the problem-solving aspect. I love being presented with a challenge, and thinking my way through it. It’s like doing a puzzle.

My career is ideal for me. I get to teach motivated students, I have time to research in the field, and in particular, to guide students in their own projects.

Additionally, I have been able to take on a variety of roles through committee work and grant-writing.

Was there a person who was especially influential in your career choice?

This brings to my mind a point made by one of the high school guidance counselors with whom we work through our Girls Excited about Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science (GEMS) program. He noted that strong female students often go without any particular guidance, since everyone assumes they’ll be fine. Looking back on my own experience, his words seem to ring true.

I didn’t encounter anyone particularly influential until coming to Russell Sage as an undergraduate. Here, all of my professors were encouraging, Professors Tom Sweeney and Dave Bonner in particular.

At the beginning of your career, did you feel supported in your career choice?

When I started, colleges were interested in increasing the number of female mathematics faculty to serve as role models to encourage females to continue their mathematical studies. It was a generally supportive climate. The only issue was one of wondering whether I was being interviewed as “the token female.”

How did you and Professor Mancuso begin collaborating?

Our department used to host a day on campus for high school teachers. It occurred to me that it would be great to bring not only the teachers, but their students, on campus.

The idea was to light a spark in them – help them see that mathematics and computer science were fun and interesting subjects, and that if they had an inclination toward those fields, they should pursue them. My goal was to provide a piece of encouragement that I think I was missing at the high school level.

Tina and I had individually applied for grants that were not funded so we decided to work together on the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) grant. We combined our efforts and made a joint proposal. That did the trick!

One of the important components of your programs is that it they include parents, teachers and guidance counselors. Why is this so important?

In order for any of our efforts to be sustained, there has to be support beyond the onetime experience of GEMS, and even beyond the classroom. Although most adults who come to GEMS are already invested in encouraging female students to pursue STEM fields, they do learn new things about gender inequity. It gives them more ammunition, if you will, with which to motivate the young women.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Tina Mancuso earned a B.S. in Mathematics Education at the State University of New York at Oswego; an M.A. in Mathematics at the University at Albany; and an M.S. in Education at the State University of New York at Oswego. She is an academic advisor for mathematics and serves on Sage’s Institutional Resources Committee.

What attracted you to study mathematics, and then to a career in mathematics and academics?

Since I was in middle school I wanted to be a teacher and math was my favorite subject. I declared Secondary Mathematics Education as my college major and have been tutoring or teaching mathematics since.

Was there a person who was especially influential in your career choice?

I had two mentors. The first was Joyce Williamson, the mathematics specialist at Oswego who gave me my first job tutoring in the Mathematics Lab. I worked for Joyce for seven semesters and then I student taught in my last semester. After graduation, I taught high school in a suburb of Syracuse and stayed in touch. During the year Joyce called me to tell me she was going on sabbatical and asked if I would be interested in being her replacement for the year.

I became the mathematics specialist and when Joyce returned, we worked together for the next six years.

My graduate advisor, J. Nathan Swift, was always writing NSF grants. I worked with him on his major “Wait Time” study which was funded through the NSF and wrote my master’s thesis on wait time. His advice to me: “Spend your early years teaching and your later years doing research.”

What was the origin of the idea for GEMS?

GEMS evolved from a small program we ran called Girls And Mathematics Equal Success (GAMES), which served about 35 high school students and five to 10 teachers each year. With a six-year grant from the Charitable Leadership Foundation, we launched GEMS, which has attracted nearly 200 girls to campus each year.

What has been the most fulfilling part of GEMS for you?

On a small scale, looking over the evaluations of each program, and reading comments from students who gained encouragement and insight from the day.

On a larger scale, our annual survey data reveals the program is encouraging young women to pursue relevant careers, as evidenced by the impressive list of majors past GEMS participants are pursuing.

What does your most recent NSF grant mean for Sage students who are underrepresented in the STEM fields?

First, and perhaps foremost, is the financial assistance in the form of a scholarship.

But there are other key components. Scholarship recipients meet bi-weekly with one of us who will be a faculty mentor. Dedicated tutoring support will be available. Each scholar will participate in a job-shadowing activity every semester, which will help them to build that all-important support network.

What still needs to be done to support women in mathematics and science careers?

A key component to making the difference will be changing the climate of some of these professions. We’ve heard from our career panelists, that as more women enter and remain in these fields, the environment is becoming more friendly. That’s a situation that can build on itself.