• Open Access

Isolation and connectedness among Black and Latinx physics graduate students

Rachel E. Scherr, Mike A. Lopez, and Marialis Rosario-Franco
Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 16, 020132 – Published 3 November 2020

Abstract

Racial or ethnic isolation may negatively impact physics graduate students’ academic and professional experience. An interview study with 16 doctoral students who were considered to be particularly at risk of such isolation found that (i) the students interviewed are mostly not the only member of their racial or ethnic group in their programs; (ii) students have diverse perceptions of who they consider to be part of their racial or ethnic group, such that their unique perspectives need to be taken into account by programs that wish to support them; and (iii) students report negative racial experiences in their programs, such as bias, expectations of service, family and financial difficulties, and political threats. Overall, these findings present both challenges and opportunities for supporting Black and Latinx physics graduate students in ways that are meaningful to them.

  • Received 15 January 2020
  • Accepted 1 October 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020132

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics Education Research

Authors & Affiliations

Rachel E. Scherr

  • University of Washington, Bothell, Washington 98011, USA

Mike A. Lopez

  • The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA

Marialis Rosario-Franco

  • University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA

Article Text

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Issue

Vol. 16, Iss. 2 — July - December 2020

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