The Time is Now to Double the Number of Physics Degrees Earned by African Americans

The under representation of African Americans in physics is arguably the greatest social challenge faced by the physics community. For example, in an era when the overall number of bachelors degrees in physics has more than doubled in the past two decades, the percentage of African Americans receiving bachelor's degrees in physics has stagnated or declined, depending on the year. Further, this under representation persists, despite deliberate successful efforts in the community to increase bachelor's degrees, largely due to a focus on the undergraduate experience; and despite impressive increases in African Americans receiving bachelor's degrees across other STEM fields. The American Institute of Physics recently published a comprehensive research study of this problem. The researchers set out to understand this persistent under representation from African American students' perspective, so they could tell us what are the factors that lead to or detract from their degree success. The result of this study is a new report, "The Time is Now," which lays out a comprehensive set of findings and recommendations for the physics community. The bottom line goal of the report is to double the annual number of African Americans receiving bachelor's in physics by 2030.