ERIC Number: EJ1440478
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2469-9896
Available Date: N/A
How Women and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Physics Doctoral Students Navigate Graduate Education: The Roles of Professional Environments and Social Networks
Justin A. Gutzwa; Ramón S. Barthelemy; Camila Amaral; Madison Swirtz; Adrienne Traxler; Charles Henderson
Physical Review Physics Education Research, v20 n2 Article 020115 2024
Despite knowing physics and astronomy doctoral programs are laden with identity-based inequities, they continue to push minoritized students to the margins. This qualitative social network analysis of 100 women and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more (LGBT+) physics and astronomy Ph.D.'s explores how minoritized physics and astronomy students utilize social networks to navigate departmental exclusion. Our findings indicate that many of the participants' identities were often unacknowledged or negatively addressed within their graduate education, with only four participants reporting a positive or favorable experience during this period of their career. Direct support from peers, faculty, and identity-based affinity groups was necessary for participants to navigate their educations. This study demonstrated that generic best practices often cannot fully support the diverse range of persons who come to physics and that identity-neutral values in physics further isolate students by insinuating that their own minoritized experiences are not valid.
Descriptors: Females, LGBTQ People, Minority Group Students, Doctoral Students, Physics, Science Education, College Science, Navigation, Educational Environment, Social Networks, Astronomy, Inclusion, Social Bias
American Physical Society. One Physics Ellipse 4th Floor, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Tel: 301-209-3200; Fax: 301-209-0865; e-mail: assocpub@aps.org; Web site: https://journals.aps.org/prper/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 2054920; 2055237; 2100024
Author Affiliations: N/A