Making Graduate Programs more inclusive: An AGEP Pilot in Physics

Physics is among the least diverse disciplines in higher education, despite recent incremental advancements toward greater diversity. For example, 50% fewer physics PhDs were awarded to African American/Black physicists in 2019 than in 2012. Past efforts at improving diversity centered on fixing the student by focusing on student academic preparation or psychosocial elements, such as motivation and self-efficacy. While such efforts are successful at supporting a small number of students, research demonstrates that the climate of physics graduate education hasn't changed and is a significant barrier. In this talk, we introduce a new NSF project, Inclusive Graduate Programs: An AGEP Pilot in Physics & Astronomy. In this project, we shift the focus from the student to the program climate and culture, centering program practices/policies and mindsets/values of institutional actors that create barriers to equity and inclusion. A cohort of 16 R1 physics programs has committed to engaging in deep and systemic change through this project to transform their programs into creating and sustaining a welcoming and supportive environment for historically excluded groups. In this presentation, we will describe the goals and structure of the project as well as our plans to document the impacts on these 16 physics graduate programs.