Quantifying Qualitative Social Networks for Women and LGBTQ+ PhD Physicists

The ability to build and maintain a network with peers, coworkers, mentors, etc. is a vital component of success in any career. Due to exceptional marginalization in physics, women and LGBTQ+ people may face an unprecedented level of difficulty in doing just this. This study examines the individual (egocentric) social networks developed by 100 women and/or LGBTQ+ PhD physicists across academia, the government, and private sector. Specifically I will discuss the methods utilized to create a digital interval scale from the sociogram map of the participant's networks. In creating an interval scale to code relationship closeness, it is possible to quantify and then use this data to gain a stronger understanding of how fundamental these relationships are to success. This study also compares how participants chose to define closeness and the ways that could impact their sociograms. In doing this, the study gains the ability to distinguish between individual perceptions of closeness and the resulting patterns, and begin to interpret the nuanced understandings that shape social networks within the studied population.