Physics education research: A research subfield of physics with gender parity

Abstract

Women currently outnumber men in obtaining undergraduate degrees but are underrepresented within STEM fields. However, women’s representation varies by STEM field, and even further by STEM subfield. One field that has held a persistent low representation of women is physics. This paper seeks to uncover the truth behind an anecdotal claim that the subfield of physics education research (PER) has a higher representation of women than physics as a whole. Graduate students in PER completed an online survey to assess their demographics, trajectory in PER, climate experiences, and goals for their research. The response rate for the survey was 68%, yielding 125 total respondents. This paper will focus on the 91 respondents enrolled in U.S. graduate programs. It was found that women make up 51% of the U.S. PER graduate students in this sample, as compared to only 19% of physics graduate students overall. Survey findings also revealed that both women and men in PER graduate programs experience similarly positive working relationships with faculty and fellow students. Last, both men and women reported building a stronger scientific workforce and becoming better teachers as goals for their PER research.