Being Human in Physics

(Project completed 2023) At UT Austin, undergraduate women are about twice as likely to leave the physics major then are undergraduate men. This does not arise primarily from academic difficulties–women physics majors and men physics majors are dismissed (for academic reasons) or drop out at roughly the same rates. Rather, women are more likely to switch out of the physics major into other majors than are men. To try to understand why this has been happening, several people in the physics department have talked with undergraduate, or former undergraduate, women about their experience in the UT Austin physics department. The most widespread category of negative experience reported is that of interaction with male undergraduate peers, usually in contexts where faculty and graduate TAs are not present. (Some negative experiences with faculty and graduate TAs have been reported, but those seem not to be as pervasive.) I want to help women and other students have a better experience in the physics major by giving them a sense of belonging and by helping them learn good strategies for dealing with difficult situations and people. I also want to equip well-intentioned male students to recognize things that contribute to harmful environments. I want to help men and women be prepared to respond positively to difficult incidents and to be prepared to help themselves and each other have a better environment. In addition, research has shown that, in general, women and under-represented minorities are more likely to leave physics and similar majors because they tend to judge their performance more harshly than do members of traditional physics (or STEM) demographics, they have a lack of positive role models with whom they identify, and because they want to do something that benefits society. These more-general factors are not specific to UT Austin, but they are also likely to contribute to the likelihood of women leaving the physics major. I want to counteract these factors by helping students assess their own performance fairly, provide a variety of positive role models, and showing how the physics major can benefit society and be personally fulfilling. This narrative has focused on improving the experience of women undergraduates in the physics major to reduce their likelihood of leaving the physics major. I do not for a minute think that women are the only students who would benefit from a more supportive interpersonal environment and intentional teaching of cognitive skills and perspectives for positive responses to difficult situations. I think that under-represented minorities, first-generation students, and low-income students are likely to benefit as well, but I do not at present have data specific to UT Austin to support the idea that such students are at increased risk of leaving the physics major. In addition, I expect that students from traditional physics/STEM demographics would also benefit, although perhaps in the aggregate not as much as other demographics.