Session G08: Why it is Critical to Promote and Support Equity and Inclusion in Physics

Live

Women face many challenges in physics and astronomy. Although the number of women has increased over time, women continue to be underrepresented in these fields. According to 2018 survey data from the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics (AIP), women earned 22{\%} of physics bachelor's degrees and 36{\%} of astronomy bachelor's degrees, and 20{\%} of physics doctorates and 35{\%} of astronomy doctorates. Women experience many other challenges in physics and astronomy careers besides underrepresentation. The 2018 Global Survey on Gender Gaps in the Sciences surveyed physicists and astronomers in 159 countries, and women were significantly more likely to report negative relationships with their graduate advisors, slower career progression, and experiences with gender discrimination and sexual harassment. A 2011 survey of mid-career physicists also revealed that women earned significantly lower salaries than men, and women more often reported challenges balancing work and family obligations. In order to improve the situation of women, physics and astronomy communities need to focus on issues beyond representation, and should continue to address the negative experiences and inequalities women encounter in classrooms, graduate schools, and academic work environments. These findings suggest that the experiences of women could be improved in several ways such as promoting more positive mentor relationships, and providing more supportive and flexible work environments for family needs.   

Live

At large research universities, foundational courses introduce hundreds or even thousands of students to STEM disciplines every year. Development of such courses and research into their efficacy should be a shared endeavor, yet it often takes place only locally - one discipline and one campus at a time. The Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses project aims to change this. Motivated by a focus on equity and inclusion as central goals of the reform process, SEISMIC brings together more than a hundred individuals from ten institutions in a collaborative structure inspired by `big science' research projects. This talk will describe the emergence and early progress of this R{\&}D project, including parallel data analysis, coordinated experimentation, continuous exchange of speakers, and extended annual meetings.   

Live

Evidence-based active engagement (EBAE) instructional strategies are being used with increasing frequency. However, they may not help all student demographics equally if the learning environment is not equitable because stereotype threats can be higher for women and other underrepresented groups in a collaborative situation and students from these groups may not have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the group work if equity is not kept at the center of the learning environment. Here we summarize the findings of two research studies related to these issues that have important implications for physics teaching. In the first study we find that in calculus-based introductory physics 2, the gender gap on the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism increased in EBAE courses, but remained relatively constant in traditional Lecture Based (LB) courses. In particular, EBAE instruction provided disproportionate benefit to male students and increased the gender gap even though all students performed better on average in EBAE courses compared to LB courses. A subsequent investigation suggests that stereotype threat may be larger for female students who agree with a gender stereotype about physics learning, and can have an added detrimental effect on their physics learning compared to the other female students who disagree with the stereotype. The findings suggest that in order to improve learning of all students, it is important for physics instructors to create equitable physics learning environments in which all students feel valued and respected and internalize that intelligence is malleable and can grow with hard work because such environments can encourage productive struggle with challenging physics problems without anxiety. Examples of promising interventions to reduce the gender gap along with data supporting their effectiveness will also be discussed.