Toward Progress for All: Statistics on the Physics Community

The number of physics PhDs earned in 2012 reached an all-time high of more than 1700 doctorates, and the number of physics bachelor’s degrees doubled between 1999 and 2013. However, the recession of 2008 continues to have effects on the number of physics faculty hired. In addition, a closer examination of the statistics for under-represented groups in physics reveals progress on some fronts, with little or no progress in other areas. Although the physics community commonly emphasizes increasing the numbers of women and minorities as a solution to the “diversity problem,” new data show that inequities exist in areas that have real impact on the careers of under-represented physicists.

Bio:

Rachel Ivie is Associate Director of the Statistical Research Center (SRC) at the American Institute of Physics. She received her PhD in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specialized in research methods, statistics, gender, and the life course. Over the past sixteen years at SRC, she has studied careers of physicists, particularly the careers of women in physics. She authored the first ever thematic report on women in physics (Ivie and Stowe, 2000), bringing together data from AIP’s surveys with data from outside sources. She has designed and carried out numerous studies: from the impact of tenure and promotion practices on male and female faculty to a longitudinal study of astronomy graduate students.