Mathematical Olympians:

Who are they, where are they from,

and how did they get where they are?

Steve Benson

Karen Marrongelle

Education Development Center, Inc.

Newton MA

Portland State University

Portland OR

sbenson@edc.org

marrongelle@mth.pdx.edu

American Mathematics
Competitions activities
American Mathematics Contest (AMC) 8
AMC 10
AMC 12
American Invitational Mathematical Examination

(AIME)
USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO)
Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program
(MOSP)
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

AMC 8 (formerly AJHSME)

Open to all students up to grade 8

(age 14 or under if homeschooled)

45 minutes
25 multiple choice questions
Participants as young as 4th grade (2001)
48% of the 169,654 participants were girls (2001)

AMC 10
Open to students in 10th grade or below

(under 17.5 years old if homeschooled)

75 minutes
25 multiple choice questions
45% of 107,060 participants were girls (2001)

AMC 12 (formerly AHSME)

Open to all high school students enrolled in at

least one course (under 19.5 yrs if homeschooled)

75 minutes
25 multiple choice questions
43% of 154,372 participants were girls (2001)

AIME
All students with a score of at least 100 on the

AMC 12 or a score in the top 1% on the AMC 10

are invited to participate.
intermediate to AMC 10 and 12 and USAMO (in
timing and difficulty)
3 hours
15 short response questions
Answers are integers from 0 to 999
21-22% of 9534 students were female (2001)

USAMO
Invitational based on AIME and AMC 10 or 12
Includes top scorer from each state
essay exam (problems would challenge most
professional mathematicians-theyre not kidding!)
proofs required
9 hours in 2 days (3 questions/4.5 hours each day)
10-16% of 262 participants were girls (2001)

MOSP

Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program

30 students invited (including USAMO finalists +

top juniors or younger)

4 weeks prior to IMO
Sessions include new content and problem solving
In 2001, two girls participated

IMO

International Mathematical Olympiad

Two weeks in July (typically)

Actual test is over two days
3 essay questions per day (proof required)
4.5 hours per day
Graded by international team

IMO 2001 research question

What aspects of the in-school and out of

school experiences of IMO caliber students

can be identified as promising for the
encouragement of a broader population of
students into sustained and advanced study
of mathematics in secondary school and
beyond?

Past Research
Do Olympians fulfill their potential?
What factors helped/hindered the

development of extraordinary talent?

Value of the Olympiad programs?

Factors Considered
School achievement
Socio-economic status
Family structure
Gender
Parents perception of intellect

Research Findings
James Campbell (1996, 2000)
Johns Hopkins University Study of

Mathematically Precocious Youth

International Research

Research Findings
Campbell (1996, 2000)
Surveyed 74 Olympians
84% of sample was Caucasian
16% of his sample was Asian American
No African Americans or Latinos/as
2 females

4 Most Influential Factors of

Olympians Success
Home
Small, affluent families
High levels of support from parents
School
Most Olympians attended public schools
Many learned much math on their own
Olympiad Program: Important stimulant
Mentoring

IMO-2001 research project

Sent surveys to students invited to take USAMO

2001 and their parents

Observed students at MOSP 2001, June 5-July 3,
Georgetown University Interviewed selected
MOSP participants
Observed IMO participants, July 4-14

USAMO survey
Surveys sent to 252 USAMO invitees and parents
Types of questions:
Biographical (age, family characteristics, school
experience, competition experience, extra-curricular
activities, free-time, access to math resources, etc.)
Attitudes and beliefs
Collaboration and competition
Learning and doing mathematics
Gender and mathematics achievement

94 students/91 parent(s) returned surveys

USAMO survey: Who are they?

Of the students who returned the survey:
58% were Caucasian, 31% were Asian
15% were female
Age on 6/1/01: 13 to 19 (average 16 yr 7 months)
6% were lefthanded
94% lived with two parents
Average number of children in family: 2.4
57% were first born child, 20% only child
84% born in USA
37% of fathers, 35% of mothers born outside USA
22%: language other than English spoken in home

USAMO survey: Who are they?

In what activities are they involved?
65% play a musical instrument
74% of these play piano
Practice/perform an average of 5.5 hours per week

56% read 3 or more books a month (96% at least 1)

Watch 5-6 hours of television per week
Use the computer outside of school 12 hours per week
Responses ranged from 1/2 hour to 40 hours per week

50% participate in an athletic activity

25% have a part-time job (an average of 10 hr/wk)

USAMO survey: Who are they?

School experience
66% in suburban schools, 27% urban, 7% rural
69% in public schools, 25% private (6% religious),
26% in a magnet school, 3% homeschooled
22% have skipped at least one grade in school
32% enrolled in a gifted/talented program
70% officially recognized as mathematically talented by
age 10 (39% by age 8, 6% age 13 or older)

USAMO survey: Who are they?

94% of fathers, 93% of mothers have college degrees
60% of fathers and 52% of mothers have a graduate degree

What kinds of occupations do parents have?

Father: Academic (21%) [math/sci (15%)], Engineer (20%),
Doctor/Dentist (13%), Computing (8%), Law (6%)
Mother: Homemaker (20%), Teacher/Principal (14%), Acad. (13%)
[math/sci (8%)], Computing (8%), Nurse (7%), Dr. (5%)

94% of participant families earn over $55,000

National median income $50,000
65% earn $100,000 or more (nationwide: 15%)

USAMO survey: Who are they?

Major influences in choosing to pursue mathematics
> 3/4 identified parents (68 moms and 50 dads)
Over 146 teachers specifically identified
(many mentioned all my teachers)

What sorts of resources do they usually utilize most?

33% utilize friends/math team members most

21% consult a teacher, coach, or mentor most
20% consult general mathematics books most
19% consult problem solving books first

1/3 have read journals for mathematical content

Quantum, Math Horizons, Scientific American, MAA journals, etc.

USAMO survey: Who are they?

76% of the students were on a math team
Average team size was 20 students
Among all members of all teams, 28% were girls
teams of female respondents were 41% girls
72% of teams boy:girl ratio of at least 2:1
52% of students considered selves top team member
96% considered selves in top 2 or 3

Mathematics students prefer to do or learn about

abstract mathematics (not necessarily related to contests): 35%

sample contest problems: 33%
exposition of topics related to contests: 15%
applied mathematics not necessarily related to contests: 10%

Attitudes about competition

58% prefer individual contests, 33% prefer team

contests, 9% had no preference

Which of the following aspects of mathematical
competitions are important to you?
Competition with others/desire to win: 80%
Challenging myself: 98%
Problem solving: 90%
Meeting other students who like math: 76%
Getting exposed to new curriculum: 67%
Collaborating with others: 61%

More attitudes about competition

Which of the following is more important?
winning mathematics competitions: 23%
solving challenging mathematics problems: 76%

Why do you participate in math competitions

(Why do you believe your child participates)?

Reasons for competing
Winning awards/scholarships
My parents make me
To make parents/teacher(s)/mentor(s) proud
My friends do
Challenge myself, do mathematics, etc.
Other

student
78
11
29
18
95
15

parent
66
8
28
20
97
15

More attitudes about competition

45% sometimes have trouble sleeping before

competitions
If they dont do as well as they expect,
20% dont worry about it
72% are disappointed for a time (a few hours to 2-3
days for most), then get over it
4% are so disappointed they cant think about anything
else for several days

3% say theyve always done at least as well as

they expected

A survey question
Rank the following in the order in which they match how

you would finish the following sentence (1= most

important factor): I am good at mathematics because
I was born with natural ability.
I work hard.
Ive been given unique opportunities and/or assistance from others.

55% of students: natural ability most important factor

81% of parents predicted their child would say that natural
ability was the most important factor
26% of students said unique opportunities most important
7% of parents predicted opportunities most important

Another survey question

I sometimes feel guilty because I dont have to do

much work and still get good grades in my math

classes.
23% of parents predicted their child would strongly
agree or somewhat agree with the statement
35% of students strongly or somewhat agreed with the
statement

Another survey question

Some people believe that mathematics is a human

invention created to ask and answer questions about the

world around us and is therefore dependent on the needs
and interests of a given culture. Others believe that
mathematics is discovered, claiming that if there were life
on Mars, then Martian mathematics would be the same as
Earth mathematics. Check the statement below that best
describes your opinion.
Statement
%parent %student
All mathematics is discovered
22
29
Most discovered, some invented
42
43
Discovered and invented in equal amounts
20
16
Most invented, some discovered
All mathematics is invented

10
6

7
5

Summary
School-related factors contributing to

Olympians success
Participation in math clubs/teams
Participation in MOP and other summer
programs
Encouragement and support of teachers/mentors
Identification of giftedness/talent at a young age
Access to mathematical resources

What can you do?

Continue to support/encourage students
Math clubs/teams with a problem-solving

focus
Involvement with national competitions
AMC (www.unl.edu/amc)
MATHCOUNTS (www.mathcounts.org)

Library purchasing mathematics books and

journals

Other mathematics competitions

Mathcounts (middle school)
Mandlebrot Competition
American Regions Math League (ARML)
University sponsored high school contests
International Mathematical Talent Search
Westinghouse Talent Search

Conclusions/Suggestions
Summer programs for kids who are

interested in mathematics but who are not

the highest achievers
Funding for math clubs/teams and
encouragement of female and minority
participation

Recommended Resources
Mathematical Olympiads - Problems and

Solutions from Around the World (MAA)

Titu Andreescu & Zuming Feng

The Contest Problem Book I - VI (MAA)

Various authors
Hungarian Problem Book I - III (MAA)
Various authors