Author(s):
The Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the Advancement and Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians (OURFA2M2) is an annual online conference for undergraduate mathematicians, run by current and recent undergraduate mathematicians. We aim to fill several gaps we noticed in existing undergraduate career-building programming: -Targeting early undergraduates with information about research, internships, conferences, and mentorship so they can take advantage of these resources throughout their undergraduate career. Some students never learn about these things from their faculty, or learn about them only in their junior or senior year.-Providing a space organized and run by current and recent undergraduates, who have unique perspectives on the needs of their peers and the experience of being a student today.-Providing a math conference space that addresses students from all marginalized groups (students of color, women, queer students, students with disabilities, nontraditional students, international students, and many more) as a collective with similar needs and as valuable allies to each other. Programming that targets specific marginalized groups provides unique and valuable perspectives and community, but marginalized communities also benefit from learning from each other and being in community with each other. Furthermore, some marginalized communities are small or not well recognized so that no specific programming exists for them, but those students are seen and welcomed in our efforts to serve all students who need more access to resources and community.-Providing an online program to maximize accessibility. Students who are not able to travel due to finances, disability or chronic illness, caretaking responsibilities, et cetera, may not be able to access in-person programming no matter how accessible it tries to be.-Sharing basic information about various fields of mathematics so students can start to understand what kinds of research, internships, and classes might interest them. Providing a basic roadmap for various areas can help students decide what areas they want to target their applications in, and feel more confident doing so.OURFA2M2 strives every year to increase participation in the conference, demographic representation among the participants, and to improve positive responses in feedback surveys. We also take the feedback about lengths of programming, interest in potential future talk topics, and general community experience into account when designing the next year’s conference. After the 2022 conference, 91.5% of survey respondents said they felt slightly or much more prepared to pursue a career in mathematics. 28.7% of respondents said between some and all of the career-building resources presented were new to them. 57.6% said the would definitely recommend OURFA2M2 to a friend, and 39% said they were likely to do so. In the comment section of feedback forms, students shared stories about applying to and being accepted to opportunities they learned about at OURFA2M2, meeting a mathematician who shared one of their marginalized identities for the first time at OURFA2M2, making friends and professional connections with both peers and mentors at OURFA2M2, and becoming interested in a field of mathematics they did not previously know about at OURFA2M2.
Coauthors
Lee Trent, University of Minnesota, MN
