About Us

Purpose of GWiPA

Gender-Minorities and Women in Physics and Astronomy, or GWiPA, is a graduate student group in the School of Physics and Astronomy (SPA) at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. GWiPA provides support to graduate students in SPA with the goals of both improving climate and increasing graduate level enrollment, retention, and graduation rates for gender minorities and women. We work towards this goal in two main ways: building strong community ties and advocating for change within the School. We help our members develop professional and personal connections to other graduate students as well as postdocs and faculty, and host collaborative events with the undergraduate women and gender minorities student group, uW+iPA. In line with our mission to advance and support those minoritized by gender, GWiPA welcomes participants of all gender identities.

What are our organization’s primary goals?

The primary goals of GWiPA are to improve the climate for and increase the representation of gender minorities and women in the fields of physics and astronomy. We aim to accomplish this via community building and advocacy. Our advocacy work mainly involves pressing for macro and structural change within the School. For instance, we circulate an annual report to SPA leadership following our winter cabin retreat summarizing the graduate experiences of GWiPA members with actionable suggestions for improvement. Another key pillar of the support GWiPA provides is a space for students to feel comfortable showing up, being involved, and sharing their experiences. Socializing with other astrophysicists and physicists of underrepresented genders reinforces a sense of belonging for our members. Many of our events, like monthly lunches, are socially focused and lay the groundwork for support systems amongst peers. Additionally, we aim to provide structural and academic support with regard to first-year course selection, finding an advisor, navigating an advisor-advisee relationship, and handling the academic stress associated with being minoritized due to gender.

Who does our organization primarily serve?

GWiPA primarily advocates for and supports graduate students within SPA. Although GWiPA and uW+iPA serve two distinct populations, we do co-host events with the goal of providing knowledge and advice to undergraduates, as needed. For example, GWiPA members can share our experiences being in graduate school, going through the application process, or help undergraduates get involved with research opportunities. By collaborating on events, we also increase the visibility of women and gender minorities in graduate school, which can enhance undergraduates’ sense of belonging in the field. Communication between advocacy groups also allows us to work together and to push for larger change, when appropriate. 

How do we see the officers’ role in this organization and what avenues do we want/expect students to seek support?

GWiPA prioritizes building positive relationships between members to create a supportive community. Officers are expected to foster authentic discussion and facilitate members building new interpersonal connections. Positioned as liaisons in the department, we anticipate that students will sometimes turn to GWiPA officers for support. Officers are expected to listen, show solidarity, and direct students to the appropriate resources. Only with student consent will an officer bring grievances to other GWiPA officers. We acknowledge that being minoritized is stressful and difficult, so it is important that officers hold space for others who are experiencing those challenges as well. However, we want to emphasize that officers are not counselors. Officers do not have the training to fulfill that role and are not expected to solve individual problems brought to us. We instead are peers with the organizing power to act as effective liaisons with the department. Our most important avenue of support is keeping our ears to the ground and identifying structural and individual issues of discrimination or minoritization, and then fighting for structural and macro-level change accordingly.