Gender in Physics

One of the ongoing areas of exploration is gender in physics. Our current work on gender stems from surveys collected at the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP). We have combined the motivational theories of self-efficacy and expectancy-value theory to categorize the reasons that women are most likely to join physics

Work Going Forward

We are creating a predictive tool to determine if a woman is at risk of leaving physics, either before or after graduation. We are analyzing over 100 results of a follow-up survey given to CUWiP attendees in order to determine if certain answers on the initial survey correlate more with retention. From this, we obtain a full picture of qualities that enable women to persist in physics and can give additional support to women at risk of leaving the discipline.

Publications on Gender in Physics

Franklin, M., Brewe, E., and Ponnock, A. (2023) Examining reasons undergraduate women join physics. Physical Review - Physics Education Research 19(1) 010110 [9 pages], doi: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.19.010110

Brewe, E., & Sawtelle, V. (2016). Focused Collection: Gender in Physics. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 12(2), 020001. doi: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.12.020001

Aycock, L.M., Hazari, Z., Brewe, E., Clancy, K.B.H., Hodapp, T., and Goertzen, R.M. (2019) Sexual harassment reported by undergraduate female physicists. Physical Review - Physics Education Research 15(1) 010121 [13 pages], doi: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.010121