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Assessment of the National Science Foundation's 2015 Geospace Portfolio Review (2017)

Chapter: Appendix C Additional Information on Diversity Among Physics and Astronomy Students

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Additional Information on Diversity Among Physics and Astronomy Students." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Assessment of the National Science Foundation's 2015 Geospace Portfolio Review. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24666.
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C

Additional Information on Diversity Among Physics and Astronomy Students

As pointed out by the 2016 Portfolio Review Committee report Investments in Critical Capabilities for Geospace Science 2016 to 20251 (hereafter, “ICCGS”), there are few data available on diversity that is specific to solar and space physics. However, data are available for physics and astronomy, fields that overlap with solar and space physics.

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program in Solar and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, which the ICCGS report cites, shows that 4 percent of the participants from 2007-2015 were Latino/as and 5 percent were African Americans (ICCGS Table 4.7). Although there are little data specific to solar and space physics, these REU data meet or exceed the representative percentages of Latino/a and African American groups graduating with a bachelor degree in physics2 and astronomy.3 However, as shown in Table C.1, the total number of Latino/as achieving bachelor’s degrees in these fields has been significantly increasing, a growth that is not reflected in the diversity of REU participants from 2007-2015 (Table C.1). The number of Latino/a physics Ph.D.’s has increased nearly 300 percent over the last decade, with 8-12 awarded each year from 1997-2004 to an average of 32 awarded in both 2011 and 2012. The data for African American physics Ph.D.’s are not so positive. The number has stayed relatively constant with an average of 10-20 earned each year from 1997 to 2012.4

For women, the data on SHINE workshop students supported by the National Science Foundation from 2006-2009 show that only 31 percent were women, and that the absolute number per year has essentially stayed the same since 2007 (ICCGS Table 4.9), suggesting that progress toward equal representation has stalled.

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1 National Science Foundation, 2016, Investments in Critical Capabilities for Geospace Science 2016 to 2025, Geospace Section of the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Science, February 5, https://www.nsf.gov/geo/adgeo/geospace-review/geospace-portfolio-reviewfinal-rpt-2016.pdf.

2 American Institute of Physics (AIP), 2015, African American Participation among Bachelor’s in Physical Sciences and Engineering, College Park, Md., https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/minorities/africanamer-pse-13.1.pdf.

3 AIP, 2014, Hispanic Participation among Bachelor’s in Physical Sciences and Engineering, College Park, Md., http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED550396.pdf.

4 AIP, 2014, Trends in Physics PhDs, College Park, Md., https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/graduate/trendsphds-p-12.2.pdf.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Additional Information on Diversity Among Physics and Astronomy Students." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Assessment of the National Science Foundation's 2015 Geospace Portfolio Review. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24666.
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TABLE C.1 Numbers of Bachelor’s Degree Recipients for Latinos(as) and African Americans in Physics and Astronomy

2002a 2012a Δ 2002 to 2012a
# % # % # %
Total Bachelor’s Degree Recipients Latino/a 95,492 7.3 176,699 9.8 81,207 85.0
Total 1,308,970 1,810,647 501,677 38.3
Physical Sciences Latino/a 997 5.4 1,774 6.5 777 78.0
Total 18,559 27,282 8,723 47.0
Physics Latino/a 165 4.1 342 5.5 177 107.0
Total 4,011 6,177 2,166 54.0
Astronomy Latino/a 12 3.7 21 4.7 9 75.0
Total 327 448 121 37.0
2003b 2013b Δ 2003 to 2013b
# % # % # %
Total Bachelor’s Degree Recipients Af. Am. 120,175 8.4 168,981 9.1 48,806 40.6
Total 1,423,725 1,865,429 441,704 31.0
Physical Sciences Af. Am. 982 5.3 1,365 4.8 383 39.0
Total 18,601 28,459 9,858 53.0
Physics Af. Am. 151 3.6 153 2.3 2 1.0
Total 4,256 6,725 2,469 58.0
Astronomy Af. Am. 5 1.6 5 1.2 0 0.0
Total 311 413 102 33.0

NOTE: Af. Am., African American.

a American Institute of Physics, 2014, Hispanic Participation among Bachelor’s in Physical Sciences and Engineering, College Park, Md., http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED550396.pdf.

b American Institute of Physics, 2015, African American Participation among Bachelor’s in Physical Sciences and Engineering, College Park, Md., https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/minorities/africanamer-pse-13.1.pdf.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Additional Information on Diversity Among Physics and Astronomy Students." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Assessment of the National Science Foundation's 2015 Geospace Portfolio Review. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24666.
×
Page 60
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Additional Information on Diversity Among Physics and Astronomy Students." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Assessment of the National Science Foundation's 2015 Geospace Portfolio Review. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24666.
×
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At the request of the Advisory Committee for Geosciences of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a review of the Geospace Section of the NSF Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences was undertaken in 2015. The Portfolio Review Committee was charged with reviewing the portfolio of facilities, research programs, and activities funded by Geospace Section and to recommend critical capabilities and the balance of investments needed to enable the science program articulated in the 2013 NRC decadal survey Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society. The Portfolio Review Committee's report Investments in Critical Capabilities for Geospace Science 2016 to 2025 (ICCGS) was accepted by the Advisory Committee for Geosciences in April 2016.

Assessment of the National Science Foundation's 2015 Geospace Portfolio Review provides an independent assessment of the ICCGS report. This publication assesses how well the ICCGS provides a clear set of findings, conclusions, and recommendations for Geospace Section that align with the science priorities of the NRC decadal survey, and adequately take into account issues such as the current budget outlook and the science needs of the community. Additionally, this study makes recommendations focused on options and considerations for NSF's implementation of the ICCGS recommendations.

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