NSF Award
1651738
Quantitative literacy is becoming increasingly important not only to STEM-related careers but in the everyday lives of Americans. Educators, policy makers, and others are calling into question the United States' ability to compete globally if the next generations of citizens are not better prepared for a world that relies more on big data, analytics, computation, and problem-solving skills. This project, with the leadership team from the Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE Math) group, will convene a conference of mathematics department chairs and academic leaders from a diverse pool of postsecondary institutions throughout the country. The conference will catalyze reforms both (1) within mathematics, lowering barriers, raising completion rates, and realigning lower division pathways, and (2) between mathematics and other fields, creating upper division pathways that better meet the career demands of students and employers and reshapes the role of mathematics in society and the workplace. A central premise of TPSE Math is that underrepresented segments of society, as marked by gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, must become full partners in this effort in order to strengthen the nation's intellectual capacity and economic leadership.
