Maria Goeppert-Mayer won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1963. She spent the majority of her career working at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago without a salary.
To empower today’s women in the field of science, UT will host the Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics this week. The summit is designed to bring together women interested in physics to discuss their research and career opportunities.
“Women leave physics in disproportionate numbers compared to male colleagues, for a variety of reasons,” Jennifer Niedziela, graduate student in physics, said. “Nevertheless, there are studies which show that just having a conversation with women about the difficulties of a physics career results in more women sticking with the field. Helping talented and intelligent women recognize the potential of training in physics, and learn to spot ahead of time the points where they might leave the path because of well-known pitfalls is, to me, the primary objective of this conference.”
The university has chosen to take an active role in preempting such stumbles.
“UT expressed an interest in hosting one of a Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics a little over two years ago,” Christine Nattrass, conference organizer and post-doctoral researcher in the physics department, said in a statement.
Over 130 students from 50 different academic centers will be in attendance.
“I am particularly excited by the size of the event and the response to the registration call,” Niedziela said. “The conference agenda is packed. Undergraduates will present their research, an especially crucial component of a scientific career. Talks by academics and industry representatives will feature research and career paths. Several panel sessions will explore different topics important to undergraduates, including undergraduate research, graduate study, the status of women in physics and career panels.”
Women have historically been underrepresented in the field of physics, receiving as little as 22 percent of bachelor’s degrees earned in the field. Lower pay, stress and discouragement are all pegged as reasons women fall off track.
“Extensive studies demonstrate bias against women in science, technology, engineering and math,” Nattrass said. “I think women should have the same chance to succeed in careers in STEM fields as men.”
Minority groups are also severely underrepresented in the technical disciplines.
“Between 1997 and 2003, fewer than three Ph.D.s per year were awarded to African-American women in physics,” Nattrass said. “Approximately 20 percent of our population is African-American, at least 10 percent of our population that we’re failing.”
Extending better opportunities to women and minorities will have impacts that stretch far beyond those demographic groups.
“It’s about being competitive as a nation, about training the next generation so that our nation can continue to lead the way in the development of new technologies,” Nattrass said. “If we want to be competitive, we can’t afford to write off over 60 percent of our population as incapable of doing science. We need to do a better job at recruiting people to technical fields.”
Adrianna Moreo, professor of physics, is looking forward to the conference.
“I am excited about this event because the conference is targeted towards undergraduate students at the point in their careers in which most of the attrition occurs,” Moreo said in a statement. “This event will provide the opportunity to address the most common reasons why female students abandon STEM fields, such as misconceptions about the general education that is gained in the field, the lifestyles associated to a career in physics and future career options.”
Nattrass has already witnessed positive results.
“From organizing the conference at Yale, I knew the impact that this conference could have on young women’s lives,” Nattrass said. “The conference in the Southeast in particular reaches many under-represented groups of students, including minorities and students who are the first in their family to go to college.”
Several conference activities will be dedicated to minority women in physics, including a panel discussion. All attendees will be able to enjoy each of the events, and special opportunities will be offered through this conference because of UT’s relationship with ORNL.
“A major draw for UT hosting the conference was the opportunity to have a tour of ORNL, one of the highlights of the conference,” Nattrass said.
Additionally, participants will be able to hear talks given by faculty, network with others interested in physics, tour laboratories and hear presentations from physics students.
“Plenty of social opportunities for interaction among the participants will be provided, including a number of tours at ORNL and a banquet at the UC,” Moreo said.
The events will kick off Thursday, with different activities planned through Sunday.
“I’m excited to meet all of these young women,” Nattrass said. “They come from such a wide variety of backgrounds.”
Nattrass has experience herself in one particularly challenging branch of physics.
“I am a relativistic heavy ion physicist,” Nattrass said. “I am on the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. I study a phase of matter called the quark-gluon plasma, a hot, dense liquid of quarks and gluons that we believe existed shortly after the Big Bang.”
She sees the problems in diversity within the field of physics as wide-reaching issues.
“The under-representation of women and minorities in technical fields isn’t just a problem in its own right but a symptom of the problems we have in recruiting and retaining talent in technical fields,” Nattrass said. “If we solve these problems, we will not only have more women and minorities in fields such as physics and engineering, but we will also do a better job of educating the majority — because we will be solving bigger problems.”
