GDSE/RES: Increasing the Participation by Women in Undergraduate Physics: What Can We Learn from Women's Colleges?

科罗拉多学院提议研究女性大学成功培养女科学家的因素，培养女性科学家的比例约为男女同校学校的两倍，重点放在物理系。这项研究将着眼于这些大学如何招收和留住物理专业、系文化、教师态度、课程、教学方法和学生体验。该项目建立在刚刚完成的一项研究的基础上，该研究调查了9个男女同校的本科生物理系，其中包括两个HBCU，以了解如何有效地鼓励女性选择物理专业。关键因素似乎是对女性特别友好的部门文化、成年女性榜样的存在、强调合作而不是竞争，以及与校友的密切联系。这些因素在女子大学中往往很强。通过访问女子学院的物理系，Pi将研究她们的成就文化对女性物理专业学生生产的影响，并了解是否有适合男女同校的方法。这些发现将有助于在单一性别和男女同校机构之间进行富有成效的对话，并找到方法来帮助所有物理系改进他们招收和留住女学生的方式。

Colorado College proposes to study the factors that explain the success of women's colleges in producing women scientists at about twice the rate of coeducational schools, with a particular focus on physics departments. The study will look at how the colleges recruit and retain physics majors, the departmental culture, faculty attitudes, curriculum, pedagogy, and student experience.The project builds on a study just completed that surveyed nine coeducational undergraduate physics departments, including two HBCU's, to learn what works to encourage women to major in physics. Key factors appear to be particularly female-friendly departmental culture, the presence of adult female role models, an emphasis on cooperation rather than competition, and a strong connection with alumni. These factors tend to be strong in women's colleges. By visiting physics departments in women's colleges, PI will study the effect of their culture of achievement on the production of female physics majors, and learn if there are methods that can be adapted to coeducational schools. The findings will contribute to a fruitful dialogue between single-sex and coeducational institutions, and find ways to help all physics departments improve on how they recruit and retain women students.