This in-person workshop, organised by Eilidh Jack of the University of Glasgow, was hosted by the University of Glasgow on 21 June 2023 and was attended by 35 participants. The aim of this workshop was to bring together practitioners from HE institutions across the UK who are passionate about outreach and widening participation in mathematical sciences and to facilitate discussions and share good practice in these areas.
The day kicked off with an inspiring talk by Sofiat Olaosebikan (University of Glasgow) who discussed their journey in founding and growing the hugely successful Computer Science Academy Africa, an international outreach programme to incentivise young Africans by equipping them with computing skills. This was followed by Kate Farrell and Jasmeen Kanwal (University of Edinburgh) who discussed how data literacy can be taught in schools through a range of resources developed by the Data Education in Schools project. Kate and Jasmeen even brought along copies of their recently launched “Teach Data Literacy: a guide for primary teachers” booklet which contains lots of useful information and free to use resources.
After lunch we heard from five students, Elinor Flavell, Will Reynolds, Edward Solomon, Milosz Symanski, Lauren Grigg, who are all involved in the maths outreach team at the University of Edinburgh. They discussed the structure and day-to-day running of the team, with a focus on involving undergraduate and postgraduate students in delivering and developing outreach activities and shared a number of these resources with the group. We then heard from Jessica Claridge (University of Essex) who discussed the importance of expanding outreach efforts to invite younger children to explore our subjects. The final presentation, delivered by Andrew Wilson (University of Glasgow) discussed two widening participation initiatives, Reaching Higher, which aims to inspire underrepresented pupils to enter HE, and the widening participation summer school run at the University of Glasgow.
Each talk ended with several discussion points to facilitate discussion amongst the group, including:
- Outreach vs in-class activities – what are the benefits and disadvantages, particularly in terms of reach and inclusion?
- How can we make a difference with one-off events?
- What support (if any) does your institution offer for widening participation students after they have arrived.
A recurring theme of these discussions was the need for the sharing of resources, and as a result a network has been set-up to allow for those with similar interests to contact one another. If you would like to join this network, please complete the Outreach & Widening Participation in Mathematical Sciences Network MS form.
