THE FIELDS INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Connecting Women in Mathematics Across Canada October 3-5, 2014 Banff International Research Station Organizing Committee: Galia Dafni (Concordia University), Sara Faridi (Dahousie University), Shannon Fitzpatrick (University of Prince Edward Island) Megumi Harada (McMaster University) Malabika Pramanik (University of British Columbia)

Overview

The mandate of the Canadian Mathematical Society's Women in Math Committee is to "monitor the status of women within the Canadian Mathematical community and the CMS, recommend actions to the Board which will assure equitable treatment of women, and encourage the participation of women at all levels of mathematics." As such, we make an effort to organize special events and panels during the Summer and Winter meetings of the Canadian Mathematical Society. These events attract many students, but given the limited period of time available during these meetings, we are only able to briefly touch upon each issue, with no in-depth analysis, and no followup conversations. Most importantly, the young mathematicians whom we are trying to reach do not have much of an opportunity to talk to us during these short events

The weekend is supposed to serve as a career starter retreat for young female mathematicians. We seek to strengthen networks and mentor graduate students looking at entering the job market. The idea is to have a number of "seasoned veterans" give lectures on topics such as How to Give a Talk, How to Build Collaborations and How to do Research. Dr. Catherine Mavriplis, an NSERC – Pratt & Whitney Canada Chair for Women in Science and Engineering, has agreed to participate in the event as well. She will highlight career trends that face women in science and engineering as a whole, painting a larger picture for the issues faced by women in Mathematics.

We will also ask that the student participants give research talks for which they would receive feedback from an assigned mentor. We plan to have up to four plenary talks, as well as discussion sessions focusing on various aspects of the academic career.

We hope to start a conversation in this meeting that will be continued in the following years, and we aim to make these meetings a reliable forum that concentrates on issues arising for women pursuing academic careers, and one that young mathematicians can use to build support networks that can last through their careers.

This gathering will also provide the Women in Mathematics committee a relaxed setting in which we will be able to discuss and prioritize issues to focus on as a committee, and strategies to help our community better.