TLRH | The Hublic Sphere |Measuring the Gap: The Gender Problem in Mathematics

Recorded February 14, 2022. This podcast episode marks an important
centenary: 100 years ago, in 1922, the trailblazing modern
mathematician, Emmy Noether, was finally given a paid lectureship
at the University of Göttingen in Germany. Despite a formidable
reputation in her field, Noether had been denied paid academic work
due to her gender and her Jewish heritage. She is now rightly
recognized as one of the greatest mathematicians who ever lived,
but she never really saw the rewards of her brilliance in her
lifetime. While conditions for women in STEM and academia have
certainly improved since Noether’s day, even now, in Europe, only
around 10-15% of permanent academic positions in mathematics are
held by women, and women occupy just 3% of CEO positions in STEM
industry.(https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/math-women/506417/)
To explore this lingering problem, I interview Professor June
Barrow-Green, a historian of mathematics at the Open University,
Iseult O’Rourke, a mathematics and French teacher at Loretto
Balbriggan, an all-girls secondary school in County Dublin, and
Mireia Martínez i Sellarès, a PhD candidate in mathematics at
Utrecht University, who has worked with the European Girls
Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO). We attempt to identify the obstacles
stand in the way of a more equitable and fair academic environment
and discuss how creating more meaningful connections between the
sciences and the arts can help us overcome them. We ask: What
cultural and societal perceptions hinder a welcoming environment
for girls and women in mathematics? What can we do about it? Is
mathematics inherently creative? How can connections between
mathematics and literature, art and culture help shed light on
inequalities in the subject in academia? Find out more here
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/hublic-sphere-podcast.php
Learn more at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/