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Conclusions and Recommendations

 

“Women pursue careers in physics because they have a passion for the field.  They succeed because they are smart, they are determined, and they work hard.  In short, they are a remarkably valuable resource for the educational systems and economies of their countries.”  Rachel Ivie, Roman Czujko, and Katie Stowe, Women Physicists Speak:  The 2001 International Study of Women in Physics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Summary of our results

Here we merely summarize our major conclusions, which are more fully explained in the section on results.

  • Our study found that a department culture that is inclusive of women students and potential majors in introductory courses is critical.  Many threads go into this culture:

  •   Loom—institutional support for faculty

  • Warp—faculty provide structures and continuity

  • Weft—students create sturdy fabric of department culture

  • Male faculty can, and often do, successfully mentor women students.
  • Female faculty provide role models and are often sources of innovative teaching.
  • Family-career conflicts are the most significant barrier to the careers of women scientists.  Family-friendly institutional policies can be an important factor in recruiting women to the faculty. 
  • Student-faculty interactions must respect appropriate boundaries.
  • HBCU’s are models of strong department culture.
  • Note that most of our conclusions do not specifically target women students.  Our experience shows that warming up the department culture benefits all students, but has a larger impact on women. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Results for Research Universities

These results are derived from experience with the site visit program of the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP).  See Dresselhaus, Franz, and Clark (1995) and Whitten (2000) for further details.

  • Most physics departments in research universities are larger and more formal than the departments considered in this study, and have a relatively cool and formal department culture.  Warming up the department culture with informal activities benefits all graduate and undergraduate students, and is particularly helpful to women students. 
  • The Department Chair is most important for setting a female-friendly tone.  The Chair must make it clear to students and faculty alike that sexist and racist behavior, even if intended as a “joke,” is unprofessional and has no place in the department.  This should be backed up with appropriate procedures. 
  • The presence of women faculty is one of the most critical markers of a female-friendly climate in a large department.  It is important to have diverse women at different ranks and in different research groups.  It is particularly important that there be at least two women in senior positions.
  • Family-friendly institutional policies can be important recruiting devices for women faculty.  These are usually beyond the control of the department, but senior faculty and Department Chairs should lobby for such policies.
  • Graduate students, especially women, are most vulnerable in their first year, before they are connected with a research group. 

  •  Attention should be paid to good teaching and advising for first year graduate students. 

  •   The department should sponsor orientation and social activities for graduate students.  It is best if they be spread out through the year rather than concentrated in the first year, when students may be overwhelmed.

  • Efforts should be made to help women in the department network together.  Undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty can work together and support each other.  It is helpful if the department allocates modest funds for social activities.  Women faculty may take the lead in organizing such activities.  BUT women faculty should not be expected to bear the entire burden for mentoring and advising women students, on top of all their other activities. 
  • The Department Chair should meet regularly with women graduate students to hear their concerns and deal with problems as they come up.  Informal meetings with refreshments, perhaps once a semester, are advised.  Some topics that should be monitored: 

  • Departmental safety—do women students feel safe staying at the lab late at night?

  •  Women’s concerns, such as family issues

  •  Incidents of insensitive behavior or sexual harassment

  • Are women students being given appropriate professional opportunities (giving talks at meetings, writing papers, etc.)?  Are they being given appropriate career counseling?

  • The Department should invite women and members of minority groups as colloquium speakers.  The APS provides lists of appropriate people (www.aps.org/educ/women-speaker.cfmWebsites and www.aps.org/educ/minority-speaker.cfm) and small travel grants (www.aps.org/educ/com/travelgrant.cfm). 
  • Orientation for beginning TAs should include sensitivity training about gender and race, and rules for appropriate behavior.
  • Attention should be paid to the mentoring of young women faculty, to be sure they are protected from overly burdensome committee assignments. 
  • Departmental brochures should include pictures of women and minority physicists doing physics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Recommendations

Some of these recommendations come from directly from our research and the experience with CSWP site visits, some from our reading of the literature, and some from our own experience as women in physics. 

For College and University Administrators

  • Develop a full complement of family-friendly policies.  Balance the expense against the expense of recruiting new faculty, only to lose them to spousal problems. 

  • Be creative with job sharing and spousal support.

  •  Make family leave policies explicit.  Be sure department chairs inform women of their options.  Be sure young women are not penalized for taking family leave.  Publicize successful cases of young women who stopped their tenure clock and still received tenure. 

  • Reward departments for being flexible about family issues.  Keep a small pot of money to replace faculty who are on family leave—don’t expect colleagues to teach overloads.
  • Worry about effects of student/faculty research on junior faculty productivity and chances for tenure.  Don’t assume that doing research with undergraduates contributes to faculty productivity.  Talk to your junior faculty about this.
  • Be aware of appropriate boundaries in student-faculty relationships.  (Sandler and Shoop, 1997, for example).  Respect faculty personal lives and encourage a healthy balance.  Be concerned about faculty who spend too much time with students. 
  • Be sure your institution’s sexual harassment policy is easily available to students.  An informative Website, complete with contact information and pictures of people available to serve as advisors is best.  Some good examples are Carleton College (www.carleton.edu/student/support/topics/assault.html), Mary Washington College (www.mwc.edu/huma/Policies/sex_harass/index.htm), and Stanford University (www.stanford.edu/dept/ocr/shpo)..

For Physics Department Chairs

  • Hire women faculty—more than one, and diverse women.  Recognize that this may take some effort, since women are still underrepresented in physics. 
  • Encourage your administration to develop a full complement of family-friendly policies.
  • Be flexible about family demands on faculty.  Remember that this is a good role model for students.  Be aware of appropriate boundaries in student-faculty relationships.  Be concerned about colleagues who spend too much time with students. 
  • Encourage faculty to respect differences and work together as a team.
  • Work with your colleagues to set up structures to make the departmental culture strong and inclusive and female friendly.  Spending some of the departmental budget on student culture is helpful.

  • A pleasant, accessible and well-furnished student lounge is one of the most important markers for a student-friendly culture (Hilborn, et al., 2003)

  • Paying your majors to work in introductory courses as lab assistants, graders and tutors has many benefits for them, the introductory students, and the department culture.

  •  An SPS chapter or other physics club can be a center for student activities.

  •  Social activities like picnics and softball games can build department culture.  Be sure potential majors in the introductory courses are included.

  • Choose a particularly good teacher who is good at recruiting students to teach the introductory course. 
  • Identify potential majors in their first year.  Be sure they are included in the departmental culture. 
  • Move your Department in the direction of more interactive teaching—

  • offer resources and rewards

  •  hire new faculty for teaching expertise

  • Consider alternative paths into major.  Are you losing potential majors who do not have sufficient high school physics background?  Do you recruit majors from lower-level courses?
  • Plan outreach and recruiting programs for pre-college students.  Offer majors opportunities to work in these programs. 
  • Maintain contact with alums.  Bring them back for seminars, and encourage them to network with present students for jobs and graduate training. 
  • Be sure women students feel safe coming to the department at night to study and do research.  Talk to your women students about this.

For Physics Department Faculty

  • Work with your colleagues to set up structures to make the departmental culture strong and inclusive and female friendly.  Spending some of the departmental budget on student culture is helpful.

  • A pleasant, accessible and well-furnished student lounge is one of the most important markers for a student-friendly culture (Hilborn, et al., 2003)

  •   Paying your majors to work in introductory courses as lab assistants, graders and tutors has many benefits for them, the introductory students, and the department culture.

  • An SPS chapter or other physics club can be a center for student activities.

  •  Social activities like picnics and softball games can build department culture.  Be sure potential majors in the introductory courses are included.

  • Try more interactive teaching, especially in the introductory class.  See, for example, Rigden et al., 1993; Laws, et al., 1999; Whitten and Burciaga (2000).
  • Identify potential majors in their first year.  Be sure they are included in the departmental culture.  Invite them to department activities.
  • Make it clear to introductory students (over and over) that you are available to talk to them. 

For Physics Students

  • Treat other students as partners, not competitors.  Organize study groups to work on homework and study for tests.
  • Be inclusive, don’t encourage or participate in sexist or racist “jokes.”
  • Plan physics-related activities (for example, trips to nearby research laboratories). 
  • Organize an SPS chapter or Physics Club.
  • Get to know younger students.  Be sure potential majors in introductory physics are included in department activities.
  • Plan outreach activities, for example science shows at local schools. (cool science web page)
  • Contact alums for advice about postgraduate plans.  Ask faculty to recommend appropriate people.

“Women pursue careers in physics because they have a passion for the field.  They succeed because they are smart, they are determined, and they work hard.  In short, they are a remarkably valuable resource for the educational systems and economies of their countries.”

Rachel Ivie, Roman Czujko, and Katie Stowe, Women Physicists Speak:  The 2001 International Study of Women in Physics.  

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