Women in physics in the United States: Reaching toward equity and inclusion

The United States has a major deficit in the proportion of women earning degrees in physics, peaking around 20%. To promote excellence and maximize creativity, additional efforts to diversify the physics community must be implemented. Challenges to improving the proportion of female physicists include microaggressions, active discouragement, poor advising or mentoring, inadequate acknowledgement of achievements, sexual harassment, and many others. The latest research on gender bias suggests two main underlying psychological themes that explain much of the behavioral bias: implicit (unconscious) bias and stereotype threat. To ensure that excellence is not compromised, we need to guarantee that our entire population has access to adequate resources and the necessary support structures for success. To fully understand women in physics, we must also examine the many obstacles that women of various identities face in efforts to navigate their academic and professional careers. These identities may be related not only to gender but also to race, ethnicity, language, religion, social class, or sexuality. Increasing women’s participation in physics requires increased access to high school physics courses, funding opportunities to attend college, availability of research opportunities, and access to and support from professional societies. These approaches will enhance the culture in physics, leading to gender equity, social equity, and improved social justice for many people.