Diversity Statement

I believe that all people of all backgrounds—racial, sexual, socio-economic, medical, religious, etc.—deserve a quality education without fear of judgement. Our backgrounds, identities, and experiences are important parts of us, to be celebrated as sources of strength; they should never be wielded as weapons against us. Academia is a place to exchange ideas and widen perspectives for all who attend. However, we are presently in a crisis where the injustices of our society have deepened the inequalities of the past, and higher education is not immune to this problem. In mathematics, minority racial groups, women, and the LGBT+ community suffer from under-representation.

It is up to us to level the barriers built by our forebears; those of us in a position to help ought to do so in whatever ways possible. For my small part, I have engaged in an educational outreach program to help students from minority and disadvantaged communities. At Binghamton University I often teach for the Binghamton Enrichment Program (BEP), a part of Binghamton University's arm of the State University of New York Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). The program provides students from underprivileged backgrounds with the tools they need to succeed in their studies with support from EOP counsellors, building connections for the students, and familiarising students with expectations and the college atmosphere over the course of an intensive month of preliminary coursework. I teach a mathematics course in summer sessions for BEP students whenever I can do so, most recently in the summers of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Above all else, my students and colleagues are human beings with individual personality and identity. As such, I constantly seek to better adapt my teaching style in light of this simple fact. To better understand the research on effective, human-centered STEM classrooms, I have recently joined the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project. In this course, I am learning a portion of the research on identity and belonging in STEM from the perspectives of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I'm excited to take part in this project, and to apply what I learn to better serve and aide in the well-overdue diversification of the community of STEM learners.

Furthermore, I always seek to improve how I teach to more effectively reach students of all backgrounds. I am conscious of the fact that my students may face invisible challenges, and I have adapted my teaching style over the years to better serve students with disabilities and students at an economic disadvantage. For each of my recent classes, I maintained a website with open educational resources (OER) for my students to access. I am careful to keep my website and all of the materials I post thereon as accessible as I can; for example, I carefully chose a theme to make my website friendly for the three most common forms of colour-blindness. I ensure that the materials I post are laid out neatly and easily scaled, including notes from lecture for those students who have difficulty reading. I adopt free OER textbooks whenever possible, and often provide supplementary materials—many of which are written and maintained by myself—so students can take my courses without additional economic burden.

Moreover, I frequently mentor students from underrepresented backgrounds in mathematics. In particular, I am aware women are underrepresented in mathematics, and I try to engage with women interested in pursuing professional development. I have mentored two female students in self-study projects beyond their normal course work. I publicise mathematical carreer development opportunities for women to all of my students, including information about carreer fairs, workshops targeting female researchers, and opportunities to join the Association for Women in Mathematics.

I believe that we have a responsibility to repair the inequalities of the past and the present. Going forward I will continue to do what I can to serve underprivileged and underrepresented groups in mathematics. I hope to continue helping with educational outreach programs like the EOP and to continue contributing to the wealth of open teaching materials; I also continue looking for new ways to help in the fight against inequality in academic settings. I hope that my efforts, however small they may be in the face of the injustices and inequalities faced by disadvantaged groups, ease some of the difficulty for underrepresented and minority groups in higher education.