Promoting First Year Physics Student Belonging through DEI Education

Recent studies show that the majority of women and LGBTQ+ students experience harassment during their undergraduate physics education, impacting their perception of belonging in the physics community. Black and Latinx students who begin college as STEM majors are more likely than white students to withdraw from college or switch to another major. To increase the representation of these minority groups we must change the culture of undergraduate physics and build a safe community where all students can thrive. I will detail recent efforts to enhance student belonging through open dialogue about diversity, equity, and inclusion held in a course for first year physics majors. Facilitators from our Center for Multicultural Student Services visited our classroom to introduce DEI terminology and to guide conversations around topics like microaggression and bystander intervention within the context of physics. Students are then introduced to diverse role models from throughout the history of physics. Working in teams they construct a biography of a professional physicist and are encouraged to reflect upon the role of allyship in their chosen physicist’s life and career. I will share successes and challenges identified in the first two years of this pilot program, highlighting how we plan to improve upon our approach in the future.