What Can You Do?
...for a student
This section is primarily based on activities we have run at Piscopia events aiming to encourage undergraduates to pursue a PhD. Our events are run by PhD students, who can usually relate to undergraduates more like a peer.
“I’m not good enough to do a PhD”
One of the main worries we hear from women undergraduates when talking about PhD studies is the fear that they are not good enough (despite having sufficient grades and research interest). In our events we try to debunk this fear. We ask all attendees to stick a post-it on a wall with their reasons for not applying. We can then highlight how so many of them have the same worries. We also have PhD students talk from their own experiences about having the same worries! Realising that everyone is feeling the same goes a long way in making students feel confident that they are capable of doing a PhD.
Breaking Barriers
Another common stumbling block for prospective PhD students is not actually understanding what a research career can look like, and we like to provide the opportunity for students to find out. We have previously invited staff to attend our smaller events (e.g., 1 visiting member of staff at a student coffee morning) to informally chat about their career path. We found that this gives undergraduates the chance to ask questions that they wouldn’t feel confident doing without this introduction and acts as an icebreaker.
You could also recommend students to our online seminar series, PiWORKS, which gives them a flavour of maths research!
Reflections
How can you show undergraduates what a research career involves?
How do we help all genders feel like they belong in the maths community?
Think about when in the academic year it is best to host certain events, for example hosting coffee morning before students need to choose their masters project.