Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Mid-Atlantic Section Fall Meeting 2020
Volume 65, Number 20
Friday–Sunday, December 4–6, 2020; Virtual
Session C02: Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Physics |
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Chair: Geraldine Cochran, Rutgers University |
Friday, December 4, 2020 4:30PM - 5:06PM |
C02.00001: RASE: Modeling Cumulative Disadvantage Due to Marginalized Group Status in Academia Invited Speaker: Louis Leblond A substantial body of research reveals disparities in the experiences of underrepresented groups and majority groups in academia. While many individual sources of inequity are small, the cumulative effect on career status can be significant. Social science research on life-course analysis have shown the importance of cumulative (dis)advantages particularly in dynamics of ``success-breeds-success'' such as the Mathew effect proposed by Merton. I will present a framework called RASE with four elements (Resources, Achievement, Status, Events) to organize and discuss the many observed disparities. I will present a modeling tool that can simulate careers of members of populations that are relatively advantaged or disadvantaged. I will show an application of this tool to model empirically measured disparities in colloquium invitations. The modeling exercise may be useful as a tool for training STEM faculty to recognize potential effects of bias in academic careers. - [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, December 4, 2020 5:06PM - 5:42PM |
C02.00002: Students' exploring and refining their equity ethic within the Access Network Invited Speaker: Chandra Turpen The Access Network is an organization that supports vibrant interactions among students and faculty who advocate for equity work in the physical sciences across nine university-based sites. While each site differs in their implementations, they share a commitment to five core principles: 1) fostering supportive learning communities, 2) engaging students in authentic science, 3) developing students' professional skills, 4) empowering students to take ownership of their education, and 5) increasing diversity and equity in the physical sciences. The first half of this presentation will share our network's goals and activities. The second half of this talk will use McGee and Bentley's framework of ``equity ethic'' (EE) to understand how Access student leaders adopt and refine a commitment to equity and social justice work within the physical sciences. In McGee and Bentley's study of STEM students of color, they define EE as students' sense of altruism and collectivism within and outside of their communities. Through interviews with student leaders, we model components of students' EEs and how their EEs are influenced by their participation in Access. Student accounts illustrate that they are invested in improving equity within their disciplinary communities and see progress toward these goals as an important measure of success. Our findings highlight how students are already infusing an EE into their professional physics activities. This research suggests that student leaders benefit from having opportunities to articulate and refine critiques of disciplinary culture, and connect their EE to their professional practices. Students' accounts suggest that this development occurs in conversation with other equity leaders around issues of social justice. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, December 4, 2020 5:42PM - 6:18PM |
C02.00003: Classifying and critiquing diversity efforts in physics Invited Speaker: Geraldine Cochran In this presentation, I will discuss and examine the ways in which physicists have engaged in diversity work with a focus on physics education research. I will utilize a framework for three major approaches to doing diversity work: 1) acknowledging, 2) affirming, and 3) removing barriers. The various approaches to diversity work will then be examined with the goals of attending to the affordances of existing diversity work and identifying constraints for those currently seeking to diversify the field of physics. I will also highlight some of the resources that have been developed and how they might be used. [Preview Abstract] |
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