"A less diverse pool of talent means a less robust pool of talent."
"For women and other underrepresented groups, one of the most important barriers to success in higher-level mathematics and scientific disciplines is social and intellectual isolation. When students struggle with difficult material, those who are isolated tend to lose confidence in themselves, but a strong mentor can make all the difference. We're working to establish mentoring networks because mathematics needs a broader range of perspectives.
Great mathematicians are often overlooked or undervalued early in their careers. If we allow social isolation to push people away from the mathematical sciences before they have fully developed their potential, we are wasting talent and weakening the discipline."
Rhonda Hughes
Professor of Mathematics
Note: Rhonda Hughes is the co-founder, with Sylvia Bozeman of Spelman College, of Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education, or EDGE. EDGE is designed to encourage women, especially women from underrepresented groups, to complete graduate programs in mathematics, where retention rates for those populations are typically very low.
