Gender discrimination in physics and astronomy: Graduate student experiences of sexism and gender microaggressions
Barthelemy, R., McCormick, M., & Henderson, C. (2016). Gender discrimination in physics and astronomy: Graduate student experiences of sexism and gender microaggressions. Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research, 12 (2), 020119. doi:10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.12.020119
Date
2016Discipline
Matemaattis-luonnontieteelliset aineetCopyright
© the Authors, 2016. This is an open access article published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] Sexism occurs when men are
believed to be superior to women, and is thought to be one of the reasons for women’s underrepresentation
in physics and astronomy. The issue of sexism in physics and astronomy has not been thoroughly explored
in the physics education literature and there is currently no clear language for discussing sexism in the field.
This article seeks to begin a conversation on sexism in physics and astronomy and offer a starting point for
language to discuss sexism in research groups and departments. Interviews with 21 women in graduate
physics and astronomy programs are analyzed for their individual experiences of sexism. Although a subset
of women did not report experiencing sexual discrimination, the majority experienced subtle insults and
slights known as microaggressions. Other participants also experienced more traditional hostile sexism in
the form of sexual harassment, gender role stereotypes, and overt discouragement. These results indicate
the existence of sexism in the current culture of physics and astronomy, as well as the importance
departments must put on eliminating it and educating students about sexism and microaggressions.
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