Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2018
Volume 63, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 5–9, 2018; Los Angeles, California
Session K61: Diversity and Inclusion in Graduate EducationInvited Undergraduate
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Sponsoring Units: FED DMP Chair: Monica Plisch, American Physical Society Room: LACC West Hall B |
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
K61.00001: APS Bridge Program: Changing the Face of Physics Graduate Education Invited Speaker: Theodore Hodapp In nearly every science, math, and engineering field there is a significant falloff in participation by underrepresented minority (URM) students who fail to make the transition between undergraduate and graduate studies.The American Physical Society (APS) has realized that a professional society can erase this gap by acting as a national recruiter of URM physics students and connecting these individuals with graduate programs that are eager to a) attract motivated students to their program, b) increase domestic student participation, and c) improve the diversity of their program. Now in its fifth year the APS has placed enough students into graduate programs nationwide to effectively eliminate this achievement gap.The program has low costs, is popular among graduate programs, and has inspired other departments to adopt practices that improve graduate admissions, student retention, and practices for all students. This presentation will review project activities, present data that demonstrate effectiveness, and discuss future actions. |
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
K61.00002: Traditional admissions requirements fail to predict PhD completion in Physics Invited Speaker: Casey Miller Through a rigorous statistical analysis of a sample that includes roughly one in seven students who entered physics PhD programs from 2000-2010, we find that the traditional admissions metrics of undergraduate GPA, the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) Quantitative, Verbal, and Physics Subject Tests, do not predict completion in US physics graduate programs with the efficacy assumed by admissions committees. In fact, we find only undergraduate GPA to have a statistically significant association with physics PhD completion. While we find weak correlations between the GREQ and GREP and graduate grades for some groups, these test scores are not predictive of PhD completion for any group. Noting the significant race, gender, and citizenship gaps on the GRE tests, these findings indicate that the typical physics PhD admissions process is a deterrent to expanding representation: it selects against already-underrepresented groups and US citizens with tools that fail to predict PhD completion. |
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
K61.00003: Fostering a more diverse graduate program in physics: MS-to-PhD Bridge Program, holistic admissions, APS support, and institutional commitment Invited Speaker: Jonathan Pelz Lack of diversity in physics and other STEM PhD programs is a well-known chronic problem. In recent years, less than 7% of domestic physics PhDs awarded nationwide have gone to students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups, even though they make up 35% of the college age population. Increasing diversity in a physics PhD program can seem to be a daunting task, especially if the program receives a low number of “traditionally qualified” applicants from URM groups who are also actively recruited by other universities. I will discuss activities and strategies at the Ohio State University (OSU) that preceded and coincided with an increase in the representation of URM students in the OSU Physics PhD program from less than 5% of domestic students in 2012 to almost 20% in 2017. These include building a core group of committed faculty colleagues, establishing an MS-to-PhD Bridge program (inspired by successful STEM Bridge programs at San Francisco State, Fisk-Vanderbilt, and Michigan), partnering with the APS Bridge Program for nationwide recruiting and other support, working with colleagues in Physics Education Research to develop new academic support programs, expanding holistic PhD admissions practices, and securing commitments of on-going support from offices and units around campus. I will also discuss on-going and future efforts, opportunities, and obstacles for increasing diversity in graduate programs at OSU and elsewhere. I would like to acknowledge the essential contributions of OSU Bridge Program Co-Director Jay Gupta and many other colleagues who have worked so hard to help these efforts succeed. |
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
K61.00004: Faculty Support and Student Wellbeing in High-Diversity STEM Graduate Programs Invited Speaker: Julie Posselt More equitable admissions and recruitment practices will only lead to reduced inequalities in PhD attainment if faculty create learning environments in which graduate students thrive. To that end, this presentation will report findings from a multi-method research project composed of two studies focused on equity and wellbeing in STEM graduate education. Study 1 in this project is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary analysis of depression and anxiety among US graduate and professional students. Using a sample of more than 20,000 students randomly sampled within 69 universities, I compare depression and anxiety prevalence among fields of study with hierarchical cluster modeling. Then, I estimate fixed effects multivariate logistic regressions to measure how depression and anxiety are associated with experiencing racial discrimination; support from faculty, friends and family; and perceived competitiveness in one’s classes. Study 2 in the project offers a qualitative, comparative case study of the forms and sources of support that women and underrepresented minority students in high-diversity STEM PhD programs report as salient to their persistence and wellbeing. Contrary to expectations, I find that students view faculty as a last resort for academic support. However, students benefit greatly from faculty feedback that enables them to properly interpret academic struggles not as a matter of ability, but rather as a matter of experience and effort. Students also report significant benefit when faculty, regardless of race or gender background, open conversations about the everyday realities of race and gender dynamics in the academy. Findings are integrated with extant theory and research to advance a conceptual model for holistic student support and wellbeing in STEM graduate education. |
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
K61.00005: Panel discussion on diversity and inclusion in graduate education
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