Choose Maths: An Australian Approach Towards Increasing the Participation of Women in Mathematics

Abstract: 

The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) is the central voice for Australia’s mathematical sciences. It plays an active role in the improvement of mathematics education and facilitates research in the mathematical sciences and cross-disciplinary areas. Since its beginning in 2002 it has grown considerably, and in the middle of 2015 funding for the new 5-year project `Choose Maths’ was obtained from the BHP-Billiton Foundation.

In this talk I provide a background about the function, vision and goals of AMSI. I will describe the Choose Maths program, whose goals are to increase the participation of women in mathematics education, including tertiary education, to change awareness of the importance of mathematics, and to improve the career paths for women in STEM-related disciplines. Finally I will discuss some of the gender research of the Choose Maths program.

• This talk will be followed by the Women in Mathematics and Statistics Lunch. RSVP for the lunch.

Biography - Inge Koch

Inge completed an MSc at the University of Oxford, and a research MPhil at the University of London, and then worked for industry and the University of Aberdeen in the UK, and for the CSIRO in Canberra. She completed a PhD in statistics at the ANU in 1991 on theoretical problems in image analysis. In 1991 she joined the University of Newcastle. From 2003 she taught statistics at UNSW, and she joined the University of Adelaide in early 2009. Inge’s research interests are in statistical learning and data science involving new statistical methods and theory for high-dimensional data and their applications in particular to proteomics and cancer research. She published the research and graduate text 'Analysis of Multivariate and High-Dimensional Analysis’ with CUP in late 2013, and currently holds a part-time research-only appointment at the University of Adelaide.

Inge has been passionate about encouraging young women to study mathematics and take up careers involving mathematics for many years, and she has conducted annual workshops for female high-school students and their teachers while at UNSW and Adelaide. Inge commenced her role as Executive Director for AMSI and for the Choose Maths program in mid-2015 building on her passion for engaging girls and young women in her love for mathematics.