Women faculty members in PhD-granting departments

Last month we considered the proportion of physics departments with women among their professorial rank faculty members—assistant, associate, and full professors. This month we will take a closer look at PhD-granting physics departments. In general, the PhD-granting physics departments are the largest in terms of faculty members. Given that these departments have more faculty members, we would expect more of them to have multiple women among the faculty. This expectation is borne out. In 2010, about 15% of PhD-granting physics departments had five or more women in the professorial ranks; only 8% had no women at all. Next month we will take a look at recent trends in the number of students earning bachelors degrees in physics. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Susan White at the Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics (swhite@aip.org).