Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2010
Volume 55, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 15–19, 2010; Portland, Oregon
Session J5: Panel Discussion: What Works for Women in Physics: Lessons Learned from Research |
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Sponsoring Units: COM CSWP Chair: Yevgeniya Zastavker, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Room: Portland Ballroom 256 |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:15AM - 11:39AM |
J5.00001: Lessons Learned from Data on Women's Careers in Physics Invited Speaker: It is well known that the participation of women in physics decreases at every step along the academic ladder. However, the exact points at which this loss occurs are less well understood. In this talk, I will present data on women in physics collected by the Statistical Research Center (SRC) of the American Institute of Physics. I will compare these data to data recently published in a National Research Council (NRC) Report, \textit{Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty}. This report includes data on gender differences in: number of applications for faculty positions in physics, number of interviews, number of hires, tenure and promotion rates, salaries, and start-up packages. Taken together, the SRC and the NRC data can inform the physics community about specific areas that should be addressed to increase the representation of women in physics faculty positions. SRC data on minority women in physics also will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:39AM - 12:03PM |
J5.00002: The Physics Classroom: Does Faculty Gender Matter? Invited Speaker: Evidence, both anecdotal and in the literature, suggests that gender matters when students evaluate a professor; particularly in a highly analytical field like physics or mathematics. We report on a study to determine the effect of gender when other variables (in particular, the ``script" delivered by an actor playing the role of a lecturer) are controlled. After physics students view such a lecture, their written evaluations show significant effects related to both the gender of lecturer and of the student. While the study involved a small number (N = 126) of participants, it is believed that meaningful conclusions can be drawn, and future work is indicated. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 12:03PM - 12:27PM |
J5.00003: Success in Undergraduate Engineering Programs: A Comparative Analysis by Race and Gender Invited Speaker: Interest in increasing the number of engineering graduates in the United States and promoting gender equality and diversification of the profession has encouraged considerable research on women and minorities in engineering programs. Drawing on a framework of intersectionality theory, this work recognizes that women of different ethnic backgrounds warrant disaggregated analysis because they do not necessarily share a common experience in engineering education. Using a longitudinal, comprehensive data set of more than 79,000 students who matriculated in engineering at nine universities in the Southeastern United States, this research examines how the six-year graduation rates of engineering students vary by disaggregated combinations of gender and race/ethnicity. Contrary to the popular opinion that women drop out of engineering at higher rates, our results show that Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and White women who matriculate in engineering are as likely as men to graduate in engineering in six years. In fact, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native American women engineering matriculants graduate at higher rates than men and there is a small difference for white students. 54 percent of White women engineering matriculants graduate in six-years compared with 53 percent of white men. For male and female engineering matriculants of all races, the most likely destination six years after entering college is graduation within engineering. This work underscores the importance of research disaggregated by race and gender and points to the critical need for more recruitment of women into engineering as the low representation of women in engineering education is primarily a reflection of their low representation at matriculation. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 12:27PM - 12:51PM |
J5.00004: Ethnic and Gender Equity in Engineering: How Can Physics Help? Invited Speaker: The underrepresentation of women, African Americans and Latinos is well known in the fields of engineering and other science-based fields. The Extended Physics program at Rutgers University has been part of a successful university-wide effort to improve the degree completion of students from groups underrepresented in STEM majors (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for nearly 20 years. In this talk I will address the issues known to contribute to the low representation of women and some ethnic minority groups in engineering, with an emphasis on the importance of discipline-specific reforms in attaining equitable representation in STEM professions. I will describe Rutgers' Extended Analytical Physics courses, which offer an alternative to and run parallel to the mainstream first-year introductory physics courses for engineers. Students enrolled in these courses have significantly lower Math SAT scores, but at the end achieve the levels of conceptual understanding and problem solving similar to the mainstream students. I will also discuss the history and development of the Extended Analytical Physics courses and present an evaluation of the program's impact on the perseverance of engineering students to degree completion. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 12:51PM - 1:15PM |
J5.00005: That None Shall Perish Invited Speaker: Despite efforts to increase the number of women faculty in the STEM disciplines, the representation of women, particularly in higher academic ranks remains disproportionately low. As a means of addressing this issue, the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program has as its mission to increase the participation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers. As such, the Program utilizes advances in social science research, as well as both demonstrated and novel strategies rooted in organizational change theory as a means of targeting gender diversity issues in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This presentation will provide an overview of the current status of women faculty, as well as the ADVANCE Program and the mechanisms by which it has supported institutions of higher education. Additionally, vital best practices and the concomitant incorporation of them into the institutional infrastructure will be discussed. These include, but are not limited to: strategic training on implicit bias, programmatic focus on departmental leadership, use of professional development grants, institutionalization of mentoring, incorporation of transparency in policies and procedures, demonstration of sensitivities toward work-life balance issues and women of color. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 1:15PM - 2:15PM |
J5.00006: Panel Discussion |
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