STEPUP: A cultural change to inspire Girls in Physics

There are gender disparities in the field of physics beginning with advanced high school courses through graduate school. The STEP UP program was created by multiple professional organizations and universities to create a curriculum for high school teachers that would help to reveal and discuss statistics about the current state of gender and physics. STEP UP researchers have shown that the Careers in Physics and Women in Physics lessons are effective.To introduce the curriculum to physics teachers across the country, teacher leaders were selected to represent the project in the community for the last three years. As part of our outreach, Ambassadors worked with school districts, teacher training programs at the university level, localized teacher groups and individual schools. In its third year, the STEP UP Ambassador Program shifted from a propagation focus to a community support one. Successfully recruiting thousands more teachers to STEP UP will enable the encouragement of female students to pursue a physics degree and a shift in the culture of physics.