Each time Anna Galer ’25 walks into a new math class, she counts the number of fellow women seated around her. In her experience at Brown, that number has almost always fit on just one hand.
Despite campus-wide efforts to address gender disparities in STEM fields, including through the University-wide Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, Brown’s Department of Mathematics has remained largely male-dominated.
For the past six semesters, only 23% of seats in MATH 0350: “Multivariable Calculus with Theory,” MATH 0540: “Linear Algebra with Theory” and 1000-level courses were filled with female students, according to data provided by the department. The gender gap also extends to undergraduate teaching assistants: Since fall 2022, only 16% of UTA positions in upper-level math courses have been held by women.
The University data provided to The Herald only included breakdowns of male and female students and may not accurately represent all gender identities.
Gender balance “is something that we take very seriously at Brown, and are making progress on, albeit at too slow a pace,” Benoit Pausader, a math professor and the department chair, wrote in an email to The Herald.
Pausader added that the gender imbalance largely stems from a lack of interest at the high school level and said the department is working to address this trend.
“This divide has definitely made it difficult to study math here,” math concentrator Abby Schindell ’25 wrote in an email to The Herald.
While she has connected with other female students, teaching assistants and faculty in the department, she wrote that “it often feels hard to find a community in a room full of men.”
As she has progressed from lower-division to upper-division courses, Natsuka Hayashida ’26 has noticed that there have been fewer and fewer women. In MATH 1710: “Topology,” a course she’s currently taking, Hayashida said that she’s one of only two girls. “It’s kind of hard to envision yourself as a mathematician when everyone around you is male.”
While course enrollment for upper-level courses has consistently been above 50 for female students since fall 2022, Galer noted she has been in several smaller sections where she was “the only girl.”
In these smaller spaces, Schindell wrote that she is often “interrupted or talked over at least once” by her peers, making her feel as though she is “looked down on.”
Mathilde Kermorgant ’25, a mathematics and computer science double-concentrator, also said she noticed the gender divide in her math classes. But for her, “being the only girl in the classroom” has sometimes motivated her to continue studying the subject.
“You just can’t stop, because if you stop, no one else is left,” Kermorgant said.
The number of female UTAs in upper-level courses also varies by semester but still remains lower than their male counterparts. In spring 2023, four of 12 UTAs were women, but the following spring, there were none.
After taking several semesters’ worth of upper-level math courses, both Kermorgant and Schindell noted that their only female TAs have been in MATH 0540.
Kermorgant referred to the department’s gender disparity as “a nefarious cycle,” noting that when fewer women enroll in a course, not as many women apply to become TAs for that same course. Without female representation among TAs, Kermorgant explained, female students may feel that they have no one to “look up to and feel comfortable talking to about their struggles in the math department.”
Kermorgant added that gendered stereotypes create the “implicit notion” that math is “too hard” or “just not a girl thing.” Such stereotypes may discourage women from pursuing math-related careers, Hayashida said.
“When there’s this overarching narrative that math is ‘scary,’ it’s hard to rewrite,” Hayashida said.
Working as a TA for both MATH 0100: “Single Variable Calculus, Part II” and MATH 0200: “Multivariable Calculus (Physics/Engineering),” Hayashida said she hopes to inspire other women to follow their passion for math.
Hayashida and Kermorgant are also both undergraduate student members of the department’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. The committee aims to “make sure that the department is a welcoming place for everyone to study math,” said Associate Professor of Mathematics Isabel Vogt, who is also a member of the committee.
Several years ago, the committee collaborated with the Department Undergraduate Group to launch the Math Families program, which gives younger students access to “professors, peers, advice and bonding,” Kermorgant explained. Each “family” consists of a professor, a graduate student, an upper-division undergraduate student and first- and second-year students. Each member of the “family,” which regularly meets for lunch, is of an underrepresented gender identity.
Though the program is still running, it did not establish any new “families” this semester due to the limited number of female upper division undergraduates concentrating in math, Kermorgant explained. But she added that any student interested in the program can join a pre-existing group.
Vogt hopes that the program will help encourage more women to concentrate in math and apply to become TAs.
“I’ve taught a number of classes at Brown where I had very strong female students,” she said. “I very firmly believe that the gender gap is not an achievement gap.”
“More female representation in the department,” Schindell wrote, is “really important.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Hayashida said that their only female TAs have been in MATH 0540. Kermorgant and Schindell noted that their only female TAs have been in MATH 0540. The Herald regrets the error. This article has also been updated to more accurately reflect the gender makeup of the Math Families.
