This award provides funding for the 8th annual Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics and for a formative assessment of the effectiveness of the conferences in meeting their goals. The next conferences will take place on January 18-20, 2013, simultaneously at Caltech, Colorado School of Mines, Cornell University, the University of Central Florida, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Texas.
The conferences have two overarching goals: 1) To give undergraduate women the resources, motivation, and confidence to apply to graduate school and to successfully complete a Ph.D. in physics or a related discipline; and 2) To increase awareness by undergraduate women in physics of the wide range of career opportunities available to them. Regional conferences are held simultaneously to maximize student attendance by minimizing travel, to increase the excitement of the participants in a joint national venture, and to allow the interactive simulcast of a keynote address. The conference goals are achieved by providing a series of inspiring talks by female physicists, panel discussions on graduate school and physics careers, student presentation sessions, and ample opportunity for networking and informal mentoring. The success of these goals will be measured by surveys given to students before and after the conferences, as well as by longitudinal studies following the students' post-graduation paths and comparing them with female student cohorts who did not attend the conferences.
The Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP), held at the University of Texas at Austin on January 18-20, 2013, was run in collaboration with CUWiPs held simultaneously at Caltech, Colorado School of Mines, Cornell University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. By running the conferences simultaneously across the U.S., we were able to maximize student attendance by minimizing travel and allow interaction between conferences and students via an interactive simulcast of a keynote address. The CUWiP, held at U.T. Austin had 111 student applications from 40 different colleges and universities in the south-central U.S., and finally 88 students registered and participated in the conference. Undergraduate students from The University of Texas at Austin comprised most of the organizing committee for the conference and played a large role in setting the agenda and helping with many details of the conference. The entire conference was focused on increasing participation of women in science and technology. Most of the local organizing committee and all of the speakers and panelists were women. The conference included five talks, by distinguished women physicists from around the U.S., on physics topics at the forefront of current research. The topics included; galaxy formation, spintronics, quantum optics, biophysics, and high energy physics. The conference also included two panels on careers in physics; one focused on careers in academia, and a second panel focused on careers in industry, national labs, and science education. All the panelists were very successful senior women scientists in these areas. There was also a panel composed of graduate students discussing how to apply and be successful in graduate school, and there was a panel of undergraduate students that focused on undergraduate research opportunities. In order to put the CUWiP in perspective, there was a talk on the history of women in physics, and a talk on NSF and APS efforts to support women in physics. There was also a talk on the general outlook for careers in physics, and a talk on the sociology of a successful career for women in the workforce. The conference concluded with a tour of the physics experimental labs at the University of Texas. Each of the undergraduate participants had the opportunity to present the results of her own research. We had seven undergraduate research talks (15 minutes each) and fifteen posters with research results. For most of the participants, this was their first opportunity to present their research outside their home institutions. All of the CUWiPs had specific objectives which included: 1) Provide leadership and teamwork opportunities for women undergraduate physics students in planning and organizing the conference; 2) Provide participants the resources, motivation, and confidence to seek advanced degrees and professional careers in physics or related STEM disciplines;and 3) Provide opportunities for participants to network, meet role models, and present their work in a professional setting. In addition, the conferences provided a unique opportunity to assess the means and effectiveness of such conferences in increasing the participation of U.S. women in physics. There was a formal assessment by Prof. Gayle Buck at Indiana of participants' pre- and post-conference ideas and attitudes. Prof. Buck will submit detailed findings in her final project report based on pre- and post- questionnaires as well as focus groups. Among participants in the U.T. Austin conference who completed both questionnaires 97% believed the conference met their expectations overall. The overall response rate for the post-conference survey was extremely high, so we are confident that the responses were representative of all attendees. The purpose of the CUWiPs is to increase the retention of women in physics. The conference does this by building the skills and knowledge necessary for success, exposing the students to the wealth of career opportunities, and providing an opportunity to meet and network with both more senior women physicists and other women physics students. Participants in the CUWiPs generally return to their home institution with increased enthusiasm, and serve as enthusiastic ambassadors for physics to their families, friends and fellow students.
