Integrating Equity: Curricular Development and Student Experiences in an Intermediate-Level College Physics Major Course

Abstract

When Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts asked in the 2016 affirmative action case Fisher v. University of Texas, “what unique perspective does a minority student bring to the physics classroom?” the Equity and Inclusion in Physics and Astronomy group replied by rejecting the premise of the question itself. Instead, they asked why diversity and the presence of minority students need to be justified when de facto segregation and the presence of White students is assumed to be the status quo. This question and its response point to an ongoing challenge: despite decades of effort to diversify the field of physics, national and institution-specific research continues to demonstrate that Students of Color, White women, and other minoritized students experience feelings of disbelonging and unwelcoming or hostile climates in physics classrooms. Instead, these classrooms remain largely centered on the experiences and needs of the historic majority: White male students. In this work, we describe the implementation and assessment of a semester-long, pro-equity curriculum integrated into an intermediate-level physics course aimed at disrupting these structural barriers.