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What Works For Women In Undergraduate Physics?, Barbara L. Whitten, Suzanne R. Foster, Margaret L. Ducombe
What Works For Women In Undergraduate Physics?, Barbara L. Whitten, Suzanne R. Foster, Margaret L. Ducombe
ADVANCE Library Collection
The predominance of men in physics remains a puzzle. To attract talented women and minorities, the culture of college physics needs a makeover. In 1998, women received about 40% of the bachelor's degrees in mathematics and chemistry, but only 19% of the bachelor's in physics. That underrepresentation worsens at higher levels: The same year, women constituted 13% of physics PhD recipients and 8% of physics faculty members.(1) According to NSF, the community of working PhD-level physicists in 2000 was 84% white and 93% male.(2) What accounts for such stark numbers?