Dina Sinclair
Harvey Mudd College
Project
High School Math Contests: Gender, Culture and Access
Brazil, Argentina, Senegal, China, Japan, Finland, Bulgaria.
High school math contests are often the first time that students are introduced to the creative, engaging field of mathematics outside of rote high school math curricula. In many countries, the female participation rate in math contests is much higher than in the US. In my Watson year, I will travel to countries with a wide range of math cultures and learn how logistical and social choices affect student perception of math contests. By spending time at math contests and in math classrooms, I hope to find ways of making math more welcoming, especially to women.