Department of Physics Colloquium

General Physics Colloquium, Professor Zahra Hazari, Florida International University

Title:  STEP UP:  Supporting Teachers to Encourage the Pursuit of Undergraduate Physics for Women

Host:  Natasha Holmes

Abstract:  In the US, nearly half of students taking physics in high school are women, but only a fifth of the students interested in physics majors in college are women.  Given this persistent issue, the STEP UP project (www.stepupphysics.org) has launched a nationwide initiative in the US to mobilize and help high school physics teachers better engage women in physics by disrupting narrow perceptions of physics and promoting supportive classroom cultures.  This talk will present some of the research evidence used by STEP UP to develop, test, and promote strategies that facilitate the physics identity development and future physics intentions of young women.  These evidence-based strategies are being used by physics educators as part of the national campaign, which has grown to include a network of more than two thousand physics teachers, faculty, students, and community members, to inspire a new generation of women physicists.  (Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1720810, 1720869, 1720917, and 1721021).