Cultivating Physics Identity and Belonging for Women in Physics

该项目旨在通过调查学生主导的导师计划如何支持物理专业本科生取得成功来服务于国家利益。国家需要准备充分的STEM专业人员，因为STEM劳动力的增长超过了整体劳动力的增长。尽管有这样的增长，但女性仍然只占物理学家的29%，只获得了21%的物理学学士学位。增加妇女和来自代表不足的群体的人在物理学中的比例，对于物理学作为一门学科的力量以及科学和工程劳动力的增长非常重要。Pion计划是一个学生主导的导师和职业概念化计划，旨在改善下一代物理学生为研究生院和劳动力做准备。该项目是由美国物理学会下属的学生专业组织--物理学生协会和西格玛国际西格玛共同开发和推出的。该项目旨在研究该方案对妇女和来自代表性不足群体的学生的物理认同感和归属感的发展的影响。因为它们与坚持不懈有关，所以了解哪些干预措施可以增加归属感和物理认同感是很有价值的。这个项目建立在大量文献的基础上，这些文献表明了学生在STEM中对物理认同感和归属感的重要性。研究结果将扩展物理学生身份认同的一个成熟模型，以更好地理解身份认同的两个关键方面：(1)将大学以外的物理职业概念化的能力如何影响女性的物理身份和归属感，特别是对于不打算追随学术生涯轨迹的学生；(2)物理领导力如何有助于学生的身份认同和归属感。导师制是Pion计划的核心组成部分，也是帮助学生培养认同感和归属感的最佳实践，该项目将探讨导师制对学生了解物理学位获得者可获得的职业机会和培养领导力认同的贡献。对于作为活动领导者和同伴导师参与Pion计划的学生，该项目将探索领导力认同的发展以及与物理认同感和归属感的联系。这些探索试图拓宽当前的物理身份和归属感模型。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by investigating how a student-led mentorship program supports undergraduate physics majors to succeed. The nation needs well-prepared STEM professionals as growth of the STEM workforce outpaces overall workforce growth. Despite this growth, women still make up only 29% of physical scientists and earn only 21% of the bachelor’s degrees in physics. Increasing the fraction of women and people from underrepresented groups in physics is important for the strength of physics as a discipline and for the growth of the science and engineering workforce. The Pion Program is a student-led mentorship and career conceptualization program designed to improve the preparation of the next generation of physics students for graduate school and the workforce. The program is being developed and launched by the Society of Physics Students and Sigma Pi Sigma, professional organizations for students under the umbrella of the American Institute of Physics. The project aims to study the impact of this program on the development of physics identity and sense of belonging among women and students from underrepresented groups. Because they are connected to persistence, it is valuable to understand what interventions can increase belonging and physics identity. This project builds on extensive literature that has shown the importance of students’ sense of physics identity and belonging to persistence in STEM. The results will expand on a well-established model of physics students’ identity to better understand two key aspects of identity: (1) how the ability to conceptualize physics careers beyond the academy impacts women’s physics identity and belonging, particularly for students who do not intend to follow an academic career trajectory and (2) how physics leadership contributes to a student’s identity and sense of belonging. With mentorship as a central component of the Pion Program and a best practice in helping students develop a sense of identity and belonging, the project will explore the contributions of mentorship to students’ understanding of the career opportunities available to physics degree recipients and to the development of leadership identity. For students who participate in the Pion Program as event leaders and peer mentors, the project will explore the development of leadership identity and the connection to physics identity and sense of belonging. These explorations seek to broaden current models of physics identity and belonging. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.