Effecting Departmental Change to Support Graduate Student Success and Broaden Participation in Physics

Instituting departmental change to promote student success and broaden participation of students historically underrepresented in STEM fields requires having a supportive departmental administration, empowered and active graduate students and student groups, faculty buy-in, and a student-centered departmental culture.

In this talk, I will discuss strategies and programs introduced in the Physics PhD Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign that have been aimed at creating a more student-centered and inclusive graduate student climate in the department. These strategies include implementing holistic admissions practices that reflect departmental values and help broaden participation; providing bridging opportunities and instituting flexible policies to help students with varied academic preparations transition to our graduate curriculum; fostering a departmental climate that emphasizes student success and retention, supports student mental wellness, and strives for an inclusive environment; supporting professional development opportunities to supplement students’ research activities; and providing realistic information about the varied career paths available to graduate students and offering support for transitioning to post-graduate careers.

I’ll describe specific examples of the strategies and programs we’ve implemented, provide data used to motivate and evaluate the efficacy of these strategies, and discuss impediments to change and how these impediments might be circumvented.