Inclusive Graduate Programs: An AGEP Pilot in Physics

Culture describes the customs, norms, social institutions, and ‘normal’ interpersonal behaviors of a particular social group. Culture can be inclusive and equitable, accepting of a wide range of prior experiences, identities, and histories. Unfortunately, studies have shown that the culture of physics graduate programs is not inclusive or equitable, and that racial and gender inequality and the unequal distribution of resources, power, and economic opportunity are prevalent in STEM disciplines.

These inequalities systemically advantage some people over others, hindering our scientific, technological, and economic advancement as a nation through the lack of diverse perspectives. The underrepresentation of women and individuals from minoritized and marginalized racial and ethnic communities persists in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Among STEM, physics is the field with the poorest diversity in graduate education. The culture of STEM and physics, in particular, is characterized by a dominant culture that favors norms of success based on stereotypical characteristics of competitiveness, individualism, assertiveness, and arrogance, which leads to the marginalization of groups of people who are underrepresented in STEM.

Despite robust literature documenting the experiences of marginalized students in graduate education, little progress has been made toward creating more welcoming and inclusive physics programs. This Inclusive Graduate Programs: An AGEP Pilot in Physics project will target both changing program practices and policies, as well as the mindsets of institutional and powerful actors in departments.

The goal of this project is to create systemic and lasting cultural change in a cohort of leading physics graduate programs to lay the foundation for expansion across STEM. The researchers aim to support physics graduate programs to become more inclusive and equitable, creating and sustaining a welcoming and supportive environment specifically for historically excluded groups, who in turn will matriculate, graduate and advance to academic faculty positions in far greater numbers, diversifying the discipline.

By diversifying physics, the least diverse discipline, the researchers aim to create a model for STEM graduate programs nationwide.

This project uses a novel structure that initiates deep and systemic change within a single STEM discipline across multiple, high-ranking institutions and in close collaboration with the national disciplinary society–the American Physical Society. The research team, comprised of experts in intersectionality in physics, systemic change in higher education, inclusive faculty practice in advising, teaching and mentoring, and inclusion and equity research and practice within the American Physical Society will collectively engage with leading physics department teams.

Acting as a research and practice backbone structure, this team will provide training in equity, change leadership, community buy-in, intersectionality, and action planning. The convening and post-convening activities center on a community of practice model, infused with equity and inclusion learning, sharing of evidence-based interventions, and supported with comprehensive data collection, analysis, and contextualization.

By housing the curation, dissemination, and scalability in the American Physical Society, data and lessons learned will be documented and disseminated through conference presentations, publications, and the American Physical Society Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guide that will inform researchers and the physics community and other STEM disciplines on effective institutional change approaches to advance equity culture in graduate program.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.