Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2017
Volume 62, Number 1
Saturday–Tuesday, January 28–31, 2017; Washington, DC
Session U2: Classically Forbidden Transitions: Tunneling Through the Barriers to Advance Women and Minorities in PhysicsDiversity Invited Undergraduate
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Sponsoring Units: FPS COM Chair: Beverly Hartline, Montana Tech of the University of Montana Room: Maryland B |
Monday, January 30, 2017 3:30PM - 4:06PM |
U2.00001: An International Dimension – the Advancement of Women in Physics and Astrophysics in the UK Invited Speaker: Jocelyn Bell-Burnell This talk will cover the following topics: What lessons can be learned by the US from the UK’s experience of advancing women in physics and astrophysics? To what extent are issues country- or culture-specific? What has worked in the UK and might work in the USA? [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, January 30, 2017 4:06PM - 4:42PM |
U2.00002: Overcoming Stereotypes to Advance Women in Physics Invited Speaker: Njema Frazier Women aren’t good at math. Women don’t think in a scientific way. When women get married and have kids, they will leave the field. Women cannot excel in scientific and technical fields. Women need more care, support, hand-holding, time, etc. Applications from women are not “competitive”.\\ \\Chances are that if you are a woman in physics, you have been on the receiving end of one or more of these sentiments.\\ \\In this talk, we explore what can be done to overcome these stereotypes, why the conclusions drawn from these assumptions are faulty, and how to advance in spite of the obstacles that lie in your path. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, January 30, 2017 4:42PM - 5:18PM |
U2.00003: Advancing Minorities and Women to the PhD in Physics and Astronomy Invited Speaker: Keivan Stassun We briefly review the current status of underrepresented minorities in physics and astronomy: The underrepresentation of Black-, Hispanic-, and Native-Americans is an order of magnitude problem. We then describe the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge program as a successful model for addressing this problem. Since 2004 the program has admitted 110 students, 90\% of them underrepresented minorities (50\% female), with a retention rate of 90\%. The program has become the top producer of African American master's degrees in physics, and is now one of the top producers of minority PhDs in astronomy, materials science, and physics. We summarize the main features of the program including its core strategies: (1) replacing the GRE in admissions with indicators that are better predictive of long-term success, (2) partnering with a minority-serving institution for student training through collaborative research, and (3) using the master's degree as a deliberate stepping stone to the PhD. We show how misuse of the GRE in graduate admissions may by itself in large part explain the ongoing underrepresentation of minorities in PhD programs, and we describe our alternate methods to identify talented individuals most likely to succeed. We describe our mentoring model and toolkit which may be utilized to enhance the success of all PhD students. [Preview Abstract] |
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