Qualitative Social Network Analysis in PER: Discussing possibilities from practice

Part of a successful career trajectory in physics is building and maintaining a professional network of peers, collaborators, and mentors that supports one’s professional growth and advancement. Building these networks can be challenging for minoritized groups, such as women and LGBT people, and may be one of the reasons leading to the challenges they face in physics. This study applies qualitative Social Network Analysis (SNA) to better understand how these groups build their social networks and the impact of these networks on their careers. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with participants who are women and/or LGBT, hold a Ph.D. in physics, and currently work in academia, government, or industry. In this presentation we focus on how we applied a qualitative approach to SNA to characterize the type of networks women and LGBT physicists build, understand their experiences while navigating their careers, and compare the experiences of participants in different job sectors. In doing that, we expect to contribute perspectives on incorporating qualitative egocentric network analysis in Physics Education Research, where this approach to SNA is relatively underutilized.