Graphic art by Margaret Cartee

Highly diverse: 20% women. Lampooning this graduate program advertisement lightened the hilarious tragedy of our thermodynamics course – a 17% female proportion. Out of a fairly diverse introductory calculus physics class, I persisted as the only female physics major over the last four years. Let me stress that I’ve received nothing but support from my personal community of physicists. Most days, I’m oblivious to any demographic imbalance. But the vivid memories of men talking over my insights or sending me to teach their lab sections leave me bitter and longing for a brighter future.

All physics majors learn to identify trends from quantitative, numerical data. To determine how my 17% female thermodynamics class compared to undergraduate institutions nationwide, I analyzed data from three 2018 National Institutes of Health (NIH) surveys (Fig. 1) [1]. Sadly, I found that our class proportion of women hovered around the national average of 21% compared to the nation’s 51% female population (Fig. 1A) [1, 2]. Equally important, racial and ethnic minorities also struggle for representation compared to white individuals who identify as  non-Hispanic or non-Latino. Some may wonder whether lower proportions of racial minorities occur simply because fewer minorities exist in the US population. Using the US Census as a reference point, such discrepancies hold true in physics academia. For the most part, we observe negative proportions, indicating that there are fewer minorities in physics than there are in the US population (Fig. 1B) [2]. 

The NIH data also visualizes another trend identified as a serious problem in scientific literature: the declining proportions of underrepresented populations progressing into higher education and leadership roles. Excluding women, the proportions of every other underrepresented minority decline in the transition from bachelor’s to doctoral degrees (Fig. 1A). A medical physics study on diversity and advancement laments this “leaky pipeline” where qualified candidates exit the field at higher academic and professional levels [3]. The authors suggest that, among other factors, lack of community, mentorship, and work-life balance,  draw minorities away from the field [3]. Likewise, women often bear additional child-care and domestic responsibilities which can affect their research, professional development, and academic advancement more than that of their male peers [4]. One significant and measurable milestone some researchers achieve is a NIH R01 grant, universally considered as the top-tier level of funding for health related research. Though the NIH documents relatively equal success rates between women and men, less than a third of the total applicant pool identifies as female [5].

Yet, all physicists are natural problem solvers.The field is already implementing solutions from the feedback of those we seek to aid. At the undergraduate level, national organizations have created special fellowships for underrepresented groups that address a lack of mentorship, foster empowerment, and provide meaningful summer paid-internships. These opportunities provide financial support, targeted networking, community building events, and professional development opportunities [3, 6, 7]. For mid-career scientists, many conferences offer complementary childcare to relieve traditional domestic responsibilities and create space for working parents [4]. For instance, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine offers professional, on-site childcare services, and the American Physical Society offers child or elderly care grants up to $500 [7, 8]. To promote African American inclusion, an American Institute of Physics report on African American underrepresentation encourages providing student funding through research groups or as learning assistants in light of financial challenges disproportionately faced by this group [6]. Finally, some studies even suggest adapting the National Football League’s “Rooney Rule” that would place all minority candidates alongside peers when organizations hold leadership elections [9].

Fostering diversity ultimately extends beyond the needs of the underrepresented population at hand. Numerous studies demonstrate that diversity in any field – undergraduate education, medicine, and even finance – boosts morale, productivity, and performance [3, 9, 10]. For example, a collaboration between three radiation-oncology professors discovered that underrepresented medical physicists are more willing to serve fellow underrepresented, low socioeconomic status, and/or Medicaid patients [10]. Patient-provider interactions within racial groups may result in increased satisfaction, cultural competence, individualized  visits, and better adherence to treatment [10]. It’s powerful to imagine how the healthcare field could expand its inclusion initiatives given sufficient resources and recognition from allies.

Much like the thermodynamic Carnot cycle, the progress of diversity in physics may seem like a cyclic loop destined to repeat unless otherwise disturbed. But just as our thermodynamics class worked together regardless of background to tackle apparently impossible problems, I’m optimistic there’s no challenge both current and imminent physicists can’t resolve. With enough support from everyone – scientific background and demographic aside – we can push the boundaries of diversity in physics towards a brighter and more inclusive future.

References cited:

[1]     Hamrick K. Data tables [Internet]. NSF Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering. 2021 [cited 2023Mar5]. Available from: https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21321/data-tables

[2]     U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts: United States [Internet]. United States Census Bureau. United States Government; 2022 [cited 2023Mar5]. Available from: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221 

[3]  J. Rankin et al., ‘Diversity and Professional Advancement in Medical Physics’, Adv Radiat Oncol, vol. 8, no. 1, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.adro.2022.101057.

[4]  K. C. Paradis et al., ‘Gender Differences in Work–Life Integration Among Medical Physicists’, Adv Radiat Oncol, vol. 6, no. 5, Sep. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.adro.2021.100724.

[5]  A. M. D. Chaudhary, S. Naveed, B. Safdar, S. Saboor, M. Zeshan, and F. Khosa, ‘Gender Differences in Research Project Grants and R01 Grants at the National Institutes of Health’, Cureus, May 2021, doi: 10.7759/cureus.14930.

[6]  American Institute of Physics. National Task Force to Elevate African American Representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy (TEAM-UP), The time is now : systemic changes to increase African Americans with bachelor’s degrees in physics and astronomy.

[7]      AAPM 65th Annual Meeting & Exhibition [Internet]. American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [cited 2023Apr21].  Available from: https://w4.aapm.org/meetings/2023AM/ attendeeInfo/index.php 

[8]      Meeting Caregiver Grants [Internet]. American Physical Society. [cited 2023Apr21]. Available from: https://www.aps.org/programs/women/workshops/childcare.cfm 

[9]  M. A. Knoll, E. Glucksman, N. Tarbell, and R. Jagsi, ‘Putting Women on the Escalator: How to Address the Ongoing Leadership Disparity in Radiation Oncology’, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, vol. 103, no. 1. Elsevier Inc., pp. 5–7, Jan. 01, 2019. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.08.011.

[10]  E. L. Covington, J. M. Moran, and K. C. Paradis, ‘The state of gender diversity in medical physics’, Med Phys, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 2038–2043, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.1002/mp.14035.