Ethnicity, Gender, and the Physics Community

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Ethnicity, Gender, and the Physics Community

• Results from the Statistical Research Center of
  AIP
• (Humbly reported by Keith Clay of GRCC)

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DISCLAIMERS

1. I am a white male.
2. I am not a statistician.
3. I did not collect the data.
4. Statistics can only hint at causes.
5. As an advisor to SRC_at_AIP I would gladly relay
   suggestions to AIP staff.

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GENDER Part OneAre women less able?

• Earlier this yearHarvard President Laurence
  Summers
• Perhaps we should investigate whether women are
  innately less able than men in math and science.
• (paraphrased the exact quote is not available)

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GENDER Part OneAre women less able?

• Consider the case of Rachel Ivie
• Becomes Experimental Psychologist.
• Emphasizes statistical research.
• Takes a job with SRC at AIP.
• Dec. 2004Authors study on women in physics.
• Prepares for long winters nap.

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GENDER Part OneAre women less able?

• The best conclusion of the SRC_at_AIP...
• based on all available data
• after months of investigation

no
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GENDER Part TwoAre women less successful?

• Do women fail or drop-out more than men?
• Is discrimination statistically visible?
• None of this data comes from pre-high school
• Most of the data is in physics
• All of the data is in academia

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GENDER Part TwoAre women less successful?
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GENDER Part TwoAre women less successful?
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Percent of Bachelors Degrees Earned by Women in
Selected Fields, 1966-2001.
2001
Source National Center for Education
Statistics. Data for Academic Year 1999 were not
available. Compiled by AIP Statistical Research
Center.
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GENDER Part TwoAre women less successful?

• They have fewer numbers, but
• On average they succeed (about) as often
• All trends are positive (except comp. sci.)
• Upper levels mirror earlier lower levels
• The Leaky Pipeline doesnt leak much
• Were now at 46 in high school

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ETHNICITY Do equal skills lead to equal
success?

• Preamble
• Using self-identified ethnic classifications
• Observations on math and science
• Average performance of Caucasian and Asian
  Americans is at one level.
• Average performance of African and Latino
  Americans is at another.
• When (maybe why?) do differences appear?

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ETHNICITYHow can we judge equal skills?

• Likelihood of Earning a Bachelors Degree vs.
• Mathematics Scores in Senior Year of H.S.
• Standardized Math Earning a Bachelors
  Scores Test, (decile) within the next 8
  years
• Highest 79
• 9th 63
• 8th 47
• 7th 40
• 6th 32
• Lower 8
• Average 32

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Bachelors Degrees Awarded by Field and Race,
Class of 2001 (NSF AIP)
African American Hispanic American Total Number
Psychology 10 8 74,124
Computer Science 10 5 43,597
Business Management 9 8 275,287
Chemistry 8 7 9,815
Biological Sciences 8 7 62,010
Mathematics Statistics 7 5 11,437
Education 7 6 118,492
Engineering 8 7 71,825
Physics 4 4 3,447
Geosciences 1 4 3,968
TOTAL 8 7 1,260,308
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Obvious question why are Latinos less
successful than African-Americans?

• Easier question to answer
• What helps African-Americans to succeed?

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• African American Bachelors in Physics
• Universities that awarded the largest number of
  bachelors over last five years
• African American
• 5-Year Totals
• 57 Xavier University (LA)
• 40 Lincoln University (PA)
• 39 Southern University AM (LA)
• 25 Alabama Agricultural Mechanical
  University (AL)
• 22 Dillard University (LA)
• 22 Grambling State University (LA)
• 22 Hampton University (VA)
• 20 Benedict College (SC)
• 19 Jackson State University (MS)
• 19 Tuskegee University (AL)
• 18 Norfolk State University (VA)
• 17 Morehouse University (GA)
• 788 Total Number of African American
  physics bachelors from all

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What inspires African-Americans who succeed in
physics?

• When asked for top 3 sources of inspiration
• 40 refer to an African-American teacher of a
  subject other than physics
• 20 cite inspiration from a white teacher
• Very few cite a white physics teacher.
• Even at HBCUs, most never seean African
  American physics teacher.

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Pseudo-Conclusion

• There are no definite conclusions.
• These studies are ongoing.
• AIP has accepted a huge research grant from NAS
  so expansion into new research areas is unlikely
  in the immediate future.