Commentary: Diversity in physics: Are you part of the problem?

Physics Today’s September 1966 issue included an interview with Herman Branson, who was chair of Howard University’s physics department at the time. Among the questions he fielded about the state of Black people in physics was, “Do you feel that the science community is biased to any degree?” He replied, “I don’t think so…. Scientists (and especially physicists) are among the most liberal people to be found anywhere.”Branson’s response evidently shocked his fellow African American physicist Tannie Stovall of the Linear Accelerator Laboratory in Orsay, France. He submitted a rebuttal, which appeared in Physics Today’s December 1966 issue. “Branson has painted a dangerously rosy picture of the black man in physics,” Stovall wrote. “I would like strongly to take issue with this view.”How could Branson believe that racial bias was absent from science in 1966? I can’t be sure. He might have harbored a belief that persists today: Physics is the objective, methodical study of matter and energy, which are devoid of life, let alone social and political actors. How can physics be biased?But if you read Branson’s interview, it’s clear he was quite aware of the systemic obstacles faced half a century ago by Black students in science. Indeed, he campaigned to remove them. Black colleges and universities had—and still have—less funding than other universities. “We know how to make a first-rate school in America,” Branson told his interviewer. “It’s primarily a question of money.”When Physics Today published its interview with Branson, the last of the five Civil Rights Acts of the 1950s and 1960s—the Fair Housing Act of 1968—was stalled in the Senate. Asked if his physics students were as active in civil rights as humanities students, Branson answered, “Perhaps embarrassingly so.” Quite to his surprise, physics majors were among the student leaders in local civil rights movements. Some of them, he lamented, did not continue to pursue physics.As members of a prominent Black university in the US, those “lost” students of Branson’s who joined the struggle for civil rights were surely made welcome in the physics department. Sadly and reprehensibly, too many of today’s Black physics majors and graduate students do not feel as though they belong. If you doubt that physics is unwelcoming to Black students, read the commentary by Charles D. Brown II, which was posted on Physics Today’s website on 20 July. Brown, who is a postdoc in atomic physics at the University of California, Berkeley, recounts a litany of racist slights and presumptions that he faced as a physics student.Making physics more welcoming to Black people and other underrepresented groups will take effort, not least because a student’s peers have a strong influence on whether a department is welcoming. Professors must lead by example. If you need advice on how to do that, read the report11. AIP National Task Force to Elevate African American Representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy, The Time Is Now: Systemic Changes to Increase African Americans with Bachelor’s Degrees in Physics and Astronomy, American Institute of Physics (2020). from the TEAM-UP Task Force, which was organized by the American Institute of Physics (Physics Today’s publisher).A recent briefing in the Economist identified three policy areas that, if addressed effectively, could improve the lives and opportunities of African Americans: segregation, education, and childhood poverty. Although tackling those and other systemic sources of disadvantage will be expensive and difficult, it needs to be done. And Branson recognized another challenge in his 1966 interview: “Suppose you take a 17-year-old from an indifferent intellectual and cultural background; what can you do to bring him into 20th-century science? It’s not only a tough question for America but for the rest of the world as well.”Given the magnitude of the challenges, the individual physicist, including me, might be tempted to ask with exasperation, What can I do? We can listen to the personal experiences of Black physicists. We can work toward making our departments, labs, and teams more welcoming. And we can confront racism whenever we encounter or witness it. The killing of George Floyd on 25 May again brought into stark, painful view the anti-Black racism that endures in the US. The time is now to do what we can to eliminate it.ReferenceSection:ChooseTop of pageReference <<CITING ARTICLES1. AIP National Task Force to Elevate African American Representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy, The Time Is Now: Systemic Changes to Increase African Americans with Bachelor’s Degrees in Physics and Astronomy, American Institute of Physics (2020). Google Scholar© 2020 American Institute of Physics.

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters; supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them improve course contents in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications to Professor Arnold Arons, Chairman Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. Notation: The letter E after an item number indicates elementary level, useful principally for freshman liberal arts through sophomore physics courses; the letter I indicates intermediate (junior, senior) level; and the letter A indicates advanced material principally suited for senior, graduate study. An asterisk (*) indicates items particularly recommended for introductory study. Additional copies: Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017. When ordering, request Resource Letter MOP-1 and enclose a stamped return envelope. A small booklet containing reprints of some of the fundamental references will soon be available for purchase from the American Institute of Physics.

“Can Four‐Year Colleges Prepare Physics Majors for Graduate Work in Physics?” In a paper bearing this title George Pake discussed some of the problems faced by four‐year colleges trying to prepare physics majors. Dr. Pake's article aroused a great deal of interest and concern. To a large extent it was the trigger for the formation of the Committee on Physics Faculties in Colleges, set up by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics, with the aid of a grant by the National Science Foundation. The Committee (COPFIC) was asked to study the problems of physics in the colleges, particularly from the point of view of the conditions necessary to recruit able physics faculty members and to retain them there.

Crystal Research and TechnologyVolume 21, Issue 3 p. K47-K48 Short Note On the Start Temperature of Crystallization of an Amorphous Alloy Dr. G. A. Stergioudis, Dr. G. A. Stergioudis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Science, Faculty of Physics, Department of Applied and Environmental Physics, Laboratory of Applied Physics, Thessaloniki, GreeceSearch for more papers by this authorProf. P. J. Rentzeperis, Prof. P. J. Rentzeperis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Science, Faculty of Physics, Department of Applied and Environmental Physics, Laboratory of Applied Physics, Thessaloniki, GreeceSearch for more papers by this author Dr. G. A. Stergioudis, Dr. G. A. Stergioudis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Science, Faculty of Physics, Department of Applied and Environmental Physics, Laboratory of Applied Physics, Thessaloniki, GreeceSearch for more papers by this authorProf. P. J. Rentzeperis, Prof. P. J. Rentzeperis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Science, Faculty of Physics, Department of Applied and Environmental Physics, Laboratory of Applied Physics, Thessaloniki, GreeceSearch for more papers by this author First published: March 1986 https://doi.org/10.1002/crat.2170210324Citations: 2AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume21, Issue3March 1986Pages K47-K48 RelatedInformation

Together, Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans make up over 25% of the US population, but they earn only 7% of physics bachelor’s degrees. In order to help broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, the American Institute of Physics has several programs to work with students as well as to reach the general public. To engage physics undergraduates on the challenging subject of diversity, the Society of Physics Students (SPS), a society of over 4000 undergraduate physics students that is part of the American Institute of Physics (AIP), has launched two new programs. SPS has developed a Physics Jeopardy-like game as part of a “Future Faces of Physics” kit that includes various materials that help engage students in conversations about diversity. These kits have been used at more than 20 regional and national meetings since 2008 with positive results. AIP has also worked with Research Corporation to launch a program that brings Nobel laureates to HBCU’s and to SPS campus or regional events that include participation by Minority Serving Institutions. Another AIP program creates short TV science news segments and distributes them free of charge in Spanish. These programs and future directions will be summarized.

The current study examines how intersecting stereotypes about gender and race influence faculty perceptions of post-doctoral candidates in STEM fields in the United States. Using a fully-crossed, between-subjects experimental design, biology and physics professors (n = 251) from eight large, public, U.S. research universities were asked to read one of eight identical curriculum vitae (CVs) depicting a hypothetical doctoral graduate applying for a post-doctoral position in their field, and rate them for competence, hireability, and likeability. The candidate’s name on the CV was used to manipulate race (Asian, Black, Latinx, and White) and gender (female or male), with all other aspects of the CV held constant across conditions. Faculty in physics exhibited a gender bias favoring the male candidates as more competent and more hirable than the otherwise identical female candidates. Further, physics faculty rated Asian and White candidates as more competent and hirable than Black and Latinx candidates, while those in biology rated Asian candidates as more competent and hirable than Black candidates, and as more hireable than Latinx candidates. An interaction between candidate gender and race emerged for those in physics, whereby Black women and Latinx women and men candidates were rated the lowest in hireability compared to all others. Women were rated more likeable than men candidates across departments. Our results highlight how understanding the underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in STEM requires examining both racial and gender biases as well as how they intersect.

This research uses data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond longitudinal study of 1993 bachelor's degree recipients to examine the post-baccalaureate enrollment of bachelor's degree recipients using a conceptual model that is based on an expanded econometric theoretical framework. Descriptive and multinomial logit analyses are used to address the research questions.

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters; supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them to improve course contents in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications to Professor Joel E. Gordon, Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002. Notation: The letter E after an item number indicates elementary level, useful principally for high school and introductory college use; the letter I indicates intermediate (junior, senior) level; and the letter A indicates advanced material, principally suited for senior, graduate study. An asterisk (*) indicates items particularly recommended for introductory study. Additional copies: Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017. When ordering, request Resource Letter NPE-1 and enclose a stamped return envelope.

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters; supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them improve course contents in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter in some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Such communications should be sent to Professor Arnold Arons, Chairman, Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. Notation: The letter E after an item number indicates elementary level, useful principally for freshman liberal arts through sophomore physics courses; the letter I indicates intermediate (junior, senior) level; and the letter A indicates advanced material principally suited for senior, graduate study. An asterisk (*) indicates items particularly recommended for introductory study. Additional copies: Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017. When ordering request Resource Letter NMR-EPR-1 and enclose a stamped return envelope.

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters; supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them to improve course contents in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications to Professor Joel E. Gordon, Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002. Additional copies: Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017. When ordering, request Resource Letter BSPF-1 and enclose a stamped return envelope.

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters; supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them improve course content in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of the letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications to Professor Joel E. Gordon, Chairman, Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. Additional copies: Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017. When ordering, request Resource Letter ColR-1, and enclose a stamped return envelope.

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters. This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them improve course contents in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications to Professor Arnold Arons, Chairman Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. This activity is supported by a National Science Foundation grant. Notation: The letter E after an item number indicates elementary level, useful principally for freshman liberal arts through sophomore physics courses; the letter I indicates intermediate (junior, senior) level; and the letter A indicates advanced material principally suited for senior, graduate study. An asterisk (*) indicates items particularly recommended for introductory study. Additional copies: Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York 17, New York. When ordering, request Resource Letter QSL-1, and enclose a stamped return envelope.

Computation is a central aspect of 21st century physics practice; it is used to model complicated systems, to simulate impossible experiments, and to analyze mountains of data. Physics departments and their faculty are increasingly recognizing the importance of teaching computation to their students. We recently completed a national survey of faculty in physics departments to understand the state of computational instruction and the factors that underlie that instruction. The data collected from the faculty responding to the survey included a variety of scales, binary questions, and numerical responses. We then used Random Forest, a supervised learning technique, to explore the factors that are most predictive of whether a faculty member decides to include computation in their physics courses. We find that experience using computation with students in their research, or lack thereof and various personal beliefs to be most predictive of a faculty member having experience teaching computation. Interestingly, we find demographic and departmental factors to be less useful factors in our model. The results of this study inform future efforts to promote greater integration of computation into the physics curriculum as well as comment on the current state of computational instruction across the United States.

In 2012, President Barack Obama introduced a plan to increase the number of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates by 1 million over the next 10 years through the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology initiative (Seadler, 2012). Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) play a pivotal role in helping the United States of America achieve a national priority to expand careers in STEM disciplines. HBCUs graduate 40 percent of Black students graduating with degrees in biological science, physics, chemistry, astronomy, environment sciences and mathematics (Jackson, 2013; Owens et al., 2012; Palmer, Davis, & Thompson, 2010).The purpose of this article is to elucidate factors that are important to the long-term success of HBCUs in preparing STEM students, by summarizes data from the Minority Male STEM Initiative (MMSI), which was collected by The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Although the surveys focused on the needs of minority males, both male and female STEM students participated in the surveys. The purpose of the MMSI surveys were to understand how university administrators, STEM faculty, and students of color in STEM disciplines currently navigate the path to recruiting, retaining and graduating underrepresented students in STEM disciplines.The original study focused on STEM students from 1,442 underrepresented students across 14 institutions, including 3 HBCUs. However, this report will outline findings that are relevant to HBCUs. Details of the survey instruments, procedures, methods of recruitment, and participants are available in A Quest for Excellence (Toldson & Esters, 2012). Survey results revealed a variety of characteristics and practices of the institutions, faculty, and administrators who prepare minority students for STEM fields.Lesson Learned from STEM Faculty and University AdministratorsContent analysis methods were used to summarize faculty members' and administrators' optional open-ended comments regarding their universities' commitment to recruiting, retaining and graduating minority students in STEM fields. The number of unique comments made about university practices were identified and then manually sorted into three broad categories: proactive practices, ambivalence or indifference, and obstructive practices. SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys was used to facilitate manual coding and sorting of the comments into more discrete categories.Recruitment and OutreachFaculty and administrators were asked to describe any recruitment or outreach activities by their institution specifically designed to encourage underrepresented students to consider a major and career in the STEM disciplines. Of the more than 200 faculty members and administrators who took the survey, only 33 provided a response to this inquiry.Institutions with proactive practices were able to list specific programs and initiatives that bolstered outreach efforts. Specific programs listed included the National Science Foundation (NSF) Bridge to the Doctorate Program, Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP), Upward Bound, and university-initiated minority programs. Many other university representatives gave statements that reiterated their commitment, which listed specific programs. Several respondents noted that they were not aware of any university initiatives to recruit students of color in STEM disciplines. Key terms included scholarships, mentors, faculty, community, research experiences, and learning community.Evaluating SuccessFaculty and administrators were asked how their institution evaluates the success of its efforts to attract, recruit, retain, and graduate students of color in STEM fields. In total, 43 participating faculty members and administrators responded to the inquiry. Most of the respondents who indicated that they have a formal evaluation process were mandated to collect data to maintain external funding. …

Introduction Higher education is charged with the dual mission of promoting the development of innate human potential and of ensuring the evolution of civilization (Hall & Rowan, 2000). It provides a conduit for diminishing social divisions among individuals and groups, and yet, it has not successfully forged bridges within its own context in relation to race. Historical and current cultural and social dynamics must be understood in order to recognize the challenges experienced by African American faculty members (Allen, Epps, Guillory, Suh, & Bonous-Hammarth, 2000; Epps, 1989). Higher education emerges from the social milieu, and thus, the experiences of various racial groups within academia reflect the status and power of these groups within the larger social structure (Allen et al.; Epps, 1989; Marcus et al., 2003). Contemporary literature suggests that African American faculty members are influenced by racial inequalities within academia (Astin, Antonio, Cress, & Astin, 1997; Nettles & Perna, 1995; Tack & Patitu, 1992). Creating strategies for transforming higher education would be ineffective if the role of discrimination and racial inequities and how these emerge within domains of higher education are not considered or are only considered in a cursory manner. Discrimination in academia is subtle and difficult to identify in a clear and concise manner (Menges & Exum, 1983). Societal perceptions of race pervade the system of higher education and influence administrators, faculty members, staff, and students. Within the United States, race is a social construction that encompasses sociopolitical factors which work to devalue specific groups of people (Robinson, 2005). Race and its corresponding social perceptions is correlated with huge variations in occupational choice, income, education, access to health care and other resources, and longevity (Anderson, 2003). The social ramifications of race transcend contexts and situations. In academia, it manifests in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, teaching evaluations, promotion and tenure procedures, recruitment and retention policies, and work climate (Bradley & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Collins, 1990; Collison, 1999; Cornelius, 1997; Perna, 2001; Tillman, 2001; Toutkoushian, 1998). Across the last three decades, the challenges encountered by African American faculty members have been documented in the literature. Although there has been progress in the domain of recruitment, there continues to be difficulties connected to creating an optimal environment in which faculty can thrive and flourish as academicians (Allen et al., 2000; Marcus et al., 2003; Turner, Myers, & Creswell, 1999). One of these difficulties encompasses the intentional and unintentional challenges posed by the student culture. There is a dearth of literature that clearly articulates how student culture influences the experiences of African American faculty members. Despite efforts on college campuses to increase representation of African-American faculty members and students and to promote an environment of consciousness, many campuses continue to experience cultural encapsulation (Bucher, 2004). Diversity consciousness refers to understanding, awareness, and skills in the area of diversity (Bucher, p. 22). Establishing a learning community revolving around consciousness is a dynamic process that requires ongoing commitment to openness, learning, and evolution. African American faculty members and all the individuals involved in higher education have the potential to promote such a learning environment. This article overviews the race-related challenges experienced by African American faculty members in higher education and articulates how the student culture compounds the difficulties present in academia. Understanding and recognizing these dynamics is the necessary foundation on which to build strategies for promoting consciousness in the student culture. …