About

Hello, we're Caoimhe and Jess

Jess and Caoimhe met in 2015 at the start of their PhDs in mathematics at the University of Oxford. As advocates for making mathematics accessible, and promoting its many applications to people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, they founded Mathematigals: an organization to foster diversity among physical scientists.

Recent decades have seen a welcome increase in the participation of women in science worldwide. However, the physical sciences still lags behind in closing the gender gap: researchers in the fields of Computer Science, Energy, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics & Astronomy, are comprised of less than 25% women (Elsevier report, 2017). The aims of Mathematigals are two-fold:

1. Strive to fully understand why this gender discrepancy persists within the physical sciences through podcasts and written discourse with people of influence - from researchers and university staff to parents and early-stage teachers.

2. Increase societal awareness of mathematical applications through informative blog posts and short, palatable, 2-minute videos describing specific applications. We will aim these primarily at school-aged children with the hope that they will be shared by educators and parents. We believe that by improving the accessibility of mathematics, we will also combat the gender gap.