Outreach to Underrepresented Groups in Plasma Physics

Physics, and specifically plasma physics, has a recruitment and retention problem for women and historically underrepresented minorities at all levels of their academic careers[1]. For example, women make up approximately $8\%$ of the APS-DPP membership while making up $13\%$ of APS membership at large. In this presentation, we describe outreach activities we have undertaken targeting retention of these groups after their undergraduate careers. These include: Targeted recruitment visits for undergraduate research internships, as well as plasma physics workshops aimed at undergraduate women in physics, faculty members of minority serving institutions, and underrepresented undergraduates. After the first year of implementation, we have already seen results, including students reached through these programs participating in SULI undergraduate internships at PPPL. This work was support by a grant from the DOE Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS). [1] AIP Physics Trends (www.aip.org/statistics)