Summary
Mentoring for female students of mathematics during the phase of their master’s thesis.
Target groups
Implementing organization
University of Salzburg - gendup - Center for Gender Studies and the Advancement of Women /Contact
Ingrid Schmutzhart; ingrid.schmutzhart@sbg.ac.at
Implemented/introduced
The program ran at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg from 2006-2009 and from 2015-2016
Relation to gender equality targets
In accordance with the Plan for the Advancement of Women 2016 Section 55.3 in conjunction with Section 58 (3) C.5, Part IV of the current statutes of the University of Salzburg.
The objective(s) of the tool
Promoting and supporting female students in mathematics in order to effect a reduction of the female dropout rate and, in the long run, an increase in the extremely small number of female (master) graduates.
Description of the tool
Collaborating with the Department of Mathematics, gendup – Centre for Gender Studies and Gender Equality initiated a mentoring program for female mathematics students. Conceived as a guiding measure, the m^2 mentoring program is offered to female master’s students in the crucial final phase of their studies. Concrete assistance and practical tips are provided, both for writing the master’s thesis and for starting a career. Drawing on her own experience to help female students, a female doctoral student of mathematics at the University of Salzburg acts as mentor. The mentoring program consists of individual and group lessons and is limited to 5 participants.
Experiences:
Unfortunately, the program had to be discontinued due to the small number of female mathematics students in the master’s thesis phase at the University of Salzburg and due to low interest in mentoring.