Susan C. White

High school seniors by race and SES

In September, we looked at participation in high school physics by race and ethnicity, and we have provided two different views of physics in high school by socioeconomic status (SES). This month, we consider the proportion of seniors attending schools by race and SES. About half of the Hispanics and almost 45% of the African-Americans among high school seniors in 2013 attended a school where the students were determined to be “worse off” economically than their peers in the local area. The converse is true for Asians and Whites with the vast majority attending schools where students are seen as “better off” than their peers.

Availability of high school physics and socioeconomics

We noted last month that Hispanic and African-American seniors were less likely to have taken a high school physics course than their peers, and we suggested that socioeconomic status (SES) played a role in the lower participation. Often the proportion of students receiving free and reduced-price meals (FRMs) is used as a measure of SES in secondary education; however, we found that this measure did not differentiate very well between schools at the upper end of the socioeconomic spectrum. To help us understand both ends of the SES scale, we ask principals and teachers to assess the economic situation of their students relative to others in the area. We have found that this tracks well with FRMs on the low end and helps us distinguish between schools on the upper end. This figure displays the number of seniors in public high schools attending a school where physics is never offered by SES. While the number of seniors is roughly one-third in each SES group, over half of the seniors attending a school where...

Where are minority physics faculty members

There is a significant clustering of African-American physics faculty members at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Almost half (47%) of African-American physics faculty members are employed by physics departments at HBCUs. Physics departments at 30 HBCUs award degrees in physics; this accounts for about 4% (30 out of 746) of the physics-degree-granting departments in U.S. colleges and universities. Half of all African-American physics faculty members work at just 23 departments, meaning that most physics students will never see a black faculty member.

Job title of recent bachelor's degree recipients

Physics bachelors degree recipients work in all kinds of professions—science writing, medicine, law, history of science, acting, music, healthcare and more. Since very few of these employees have the word “physics” in their job titles, it can be hard for new graduates to know where to look for jobs and how to find other recent physics graduates in the workforce. The American Institute of Physics and the Society of Physics Students joined forces on an NSF-funded grant to create career tools for undergraduate physics students.1 One of the tools available to students in the Careers Toolbox is a listing of common job titles of physics bachelors degree recipients working in various fields; some of the job titles are listed below.

High school physics and socioeconomics

In our September column, we noted that Hispanic and African-American seniors were less likely to have taken a high school physics course than their peers, and we suggested that socioeconomic status (SES) played a role in the lower participation. In the figure, we display the proportion of seniors, of physics teachers, and of physics enrollments at schools by SES. While the number of seniors is roughly one-third in each group, physics enrollments differ dramatically by SES. Furthermore, the disparity in enrollments is greater than the disparity in physics teachers; this means that the teachers teaching physics at “better off” schools teach more physics than the physics teachers at “worse off” schools. Thus, a physics teacher at a “better off” school is more likely to teach a majority of their classes in physics.

What are students who earned a bachelor's degree in physics doing one year after graduation?

Each year we attempt to contact each person who received a bachelors degree in physics one year earlier to ask them what they are doing. New degree recipients typically follow one of two paths: enrolling in graduate school or entering the employment market. For the classes of 2011 and 2012 combined, nearly 60% chose to enroll in a graduate program; almost 40% of those opting for graduate school went into a field other than physics or astronomy. Only 4% of physics bachelors degree recipients from the classes of 2011 and 2012 were still seeking employment one year after graduation.

Who hires physics bachelor's degree recipients?

As we saw last month, over 40% of the students who recently earned bachelors degrees in physics enter the job market. There are employment opportunities for these graduates in all areas of the economy. When we contact graduates, we ask them where they are working, and we use their responses to compile a list of employers in each state who have recently hired a physics bachelors degree recipient. We also produce a separate list of firms that have hired three or more physics bachelors. These lists can be useful tools for students who want to know more about where one can find a job with a bachelors degree in physics. The lists are available at www.aip.org/whos-hiring-physics-bachelors.

Physics departments with women faculty members

Last month we examined the representation of women among newly hired physics faculty members. This month we consider the proportion of physics departments with women on their faculties in the professorial ranks—assistant, associate, and full professors. There continue to be some physics departments that have no women faculty members. The percentage is higher at bachelors-granting departments than at PhD-granting departments, largely because of the small number of faculty members at most bachelors-granting departments. About 47% of bachelors-granting departments had no women faculty members, while one percent of these departments had only women. We studied the number of physics departments with no women among their faculty and found that there are actually fewer of these than would be expected given the small number of faculty members in a typical department and given the overall proportion of women among current physics faculty members.1 Next month we will take a closer Proportion of Physics Department...

Number of bachelor's degrees doubled since 1999

In the class of 2013, a record number of students earned bachelors degrees in physics: 7,363. This is more than double the number of students doing so only 14 years earlier. Over the same time period, the total number of bachelors degrees awarded in all disciplines was up also, but only by about 40%. The graph shows the number of students earning a bachelors degree in physics since 1955. Between 1955 and the early 1960s, the number of undergraduates earning degrees in physics grew rapidly. After a brief downward turn in the middle of the decade, the number peaked at 5,975 in 1969. Thirty years later, it reached a low of 3,646 students in 1999. Every fall, the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics reaches out to all of the departments that award at least a bachelors degree in physics. The departments graciously provide data on enrollments in introductory courses and the number of students earning degrees at the bachelors, masters and doctoral level. In January, we will look...

Women among newly hired physics faculty

In May, we noted that the percentage of women among physics faculty members reached 14% in 2010. The 14% is a new high—the continuation of a trend seen since we began measuring these data in 1998 when it was 8%. This growth in womens representation is seen at all levels of the professoriate—from instructors through full professors. In terms of sheer numbers, though, it is the women hired as assistant professors driving the increase. In the table, we highlight the percentage of newly hired faculty members who are women. The percentage of women among newly hired full professors increased quite a bit in 2010; this is an artifact of the lower number of male full professors hired in 2010 (which was the first year we collected data after the recession of 2008). In October, we will look at the proportion of physics departments with women faculty members. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Susan White at the Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics (swhite@aip.org).