Inclusive Graduate Programs: An AGEP Pilot in Physics

文化描述了特定社会群体的习俗、规范、社会制度和“正常”的人际行为。文化可以是包容和公平的，可以接受各种各样的先前经历、身份和历史。不幸的是，研究表明，物理研究生课程的文化不包容或不公平，种族和性别不平等以及资源、权力和经济机会的不平等分配在STEM学科中普遍存在。这些不平等在系统上使一些人优于其他人，由于缺乏多样化的观点，阻碍了我们作为一个国家的科学、技术和经济发展。在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域，女性和来自少数族裔和边缘化种族和族裔社区的个人的代表性仍然不足。在STEM中，物理学是研究生教育多样性最差的领域。特别是STEM和物理学的文化，其特点是一种主导文化，这种文化倾向于基于竞争力、个人主义、自信和傲慢等刻板特征的成功规范，这导致STEM中代表性不足的群体被边缘化。尽管有大量文献记录了研究生教育中边缘化学生的经历，但在创建更受欢迎和包容的物理课程方面，进展甚微。“包容性研究生项目：AGEP物理学试点项目”将针对不断变化的项目实践和政策，以及部门机构和强大参与者的心态。该项目的目标是在一批领先的物理研究生项目中创造系统和持久的文化变革，为STEM领域的扩展奠定基础。研究人员的目标是支持物理学研究生课程变得更加包容和公平，为历史上被排斥的群体创造和维持一个欢迎和支持的环境，这些群体反过来将有更多的人入学、毕业并晋升到学术教职岗位，从而使学科多样化。通过使物理学这个最不多样化的学科多样化，研究人员的目标是为全国的STEM研究生项目创造一个模式。该项目采用了一种新颖的结构，在多个高级机构的单一STEM学科中发起了深刻而系统的变革，并与国家学科协会-美国物理学会密切合作。该研究团队由物理学交叉性、高等教育系统性变革、美国物理学会内包容性教师在咨询、教学和指导方面的实践，以及包容性和公平研究和实践方面的专家组成，将与领先的物理系团队共同参与。作为研究和实践的骨干结构，该团队将提供公平、变革领导、社区参与、交叉性和行动计划方面的培训。召集和召集后活动以实践社区模式为中心，融入公平和包容学习，分享循证干预措施，并以全面的数据收集、分析和情境化为支持。通过美国物理学会的管理、传播和可扩展性，数据和经验教训将通过会议演讲、出版物和美国物理学会物理项目有效实践（EP3）指南进行记录和传播，该指南将告知研究人员、物理社区和其他STEM学科有效的制度变革方法，以促进研究生项目中的公平文化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Culture describes the customs, norms, social institutions, and ‘normal’ interpersonal behaviors of a particular social group. Culture can be inclusive and equitable, accepting of a wide range of prior experiences, identities, and histories. Unfortunately, studies have shown that the culture of physics graduate programs is not inclusive or equitable, and that racial and gender inequality and the unequal distribution of resources, power, and economic opportunity are prevalent in STEM disciplines. These inequalities systemically advantage some people over others, hindering our scientific, technological, and economic advancement as a nation through the lack of diverse perspectives. The underrepresentation of women and individuals from minoritized and marginalized racial and ethnic communities persists in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Among STEM, physics is the field with the poorest diversity in graduate education. The culture of STEM and physics, in particular, is characterized by a dominant culture that favors norms of success based on stereotypical characteristics of competitiveness, individualism, assertiveness, and arrogance, which leads to the marginalization of groups of people who are underrepresented in STEM. Despite robust literature documenting the experiences of marginalized students in graduate education, little progress has been made toward creating more welcoming and inclusive physics programs. This Inclusive Graduate Programs: An AGEP Pilot in Physics project will target both changing program practices and policies, as well as the mindsets of institutional and powerful actors in departments. The goal of this project is to create systemic and lasting cultural change in a cohort of leading physics graduate programs to lay the foundation for expansion across STEM. The researchers aim to support physics graduate programs to become more inclusive and equitable, creating and sustaining a welcoming and supportive environment specifically for historically excluded groups, who in turn will matriculate, graduate and advance to academic faculty positions in far greater numbers, diversifying the discipline. By diversifying physics, the least diverse discipline, the researchers aim to create a model for STEM graduate programs nationwide.This project uses a novel structure that initiates deep and systemic change within a single STEM discipline across multiple, high-ranking institutions and in close collaboration with the national disciplinary society–the American Physical Society. The research team, comprised of experts in intersectionality in physics, systemic change in higher education, inclusive faculty practice in advising, teaching and mentoring, and inclusion and equity research and practice within the American Physical Society will collectively engage with leading physics department teams. Acting as a research and practice backbone structure, this team will provide training in equity, change leadership, community buy-in, intersectionality, and action planning. The convening and post-convening activities center on a community of practice model, infused with equity and inclusion learning, sharing of evidence-based interventions, and supported with comprehensive data collection, analysis, and contextualization. By housing the curation, dissemination, and scalability in the American Physical Society, data and lessons learned will be documented and disseminated through conference presentations, publications, and the American Physical Society Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guide that will inform researchers and the physics community and other STEM disciplines on effective institutional change approaches to advance equity culture in graduate program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.