PERC 2018 Abstract Detail Page
Previous Page | New Search | Browse All
| Abstract Title: | What Successful Institutions are Doing to Support Women Physics Students of Color: Qualitative Findings |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | I study an undergraduate physics department where women students use words like "helpful" and "friendly" to describe their interactions with other students and professors. Classes are marked by group work, collaboration, intellectual engagement and warmth. Students are encouraged to make mistakes and to help one another. Even Black women and Latinas, who are drastically underrepresented nationwide among physics majors, have said "I feel like I've been pretty supported in this department. The teachers...have all been great, and very helpful" and "I guess it can be intimidating at first, to go into a field where there are far more men. But it becomes...they just become like your friends. It's not like you have to see a huge difference because I'm a girl and that's a guy." In this session, I will talk about actions professors in this department have taken to bring about this culture as well as the ongoing work professors do to maintain it. |
| Abstract Type: | Symposium Talk |
| Parallel Session: | Prosperity, Family and Identity: Learning From What Helps Women of Color Thrive |
| Session Time: | Parallel Sessions Cluster II |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Angela Johnson St. Mary's College of Maryland |
