Women in physics and astronomy in the U.S.

Abstract

I presented results from the AIP report, Women in Physics and Astronomy, 2005 (R. Ivie and K. Nies Ray, AIP Publication Number R-430.02, www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/women05.pdf), which was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Compared with other scientific fields, women are very underrepresented in physics, although their representation has increased in the last 30 years. By 2003, women earned 18% of the physics degrees in the United States, which is a record high. In 2003, women earned 26% of the PhDs in astronomy. However, minority women (African-American and Hispanic) receive very few physics and astronomy degrees in the U.S. Also troubling is the salary gap between men's and women's salaries in physics and related fields. Even within the same employment sector and controlling for years since degree, women earn 5% less than men. The percentage of newly hired part-time faculty who are women is higher than the percentages hired into tenured and tenure-track positions. Many women take physics in high school, but a smaller percentage take the Advanced Placement physics exams, and an even smaller percentage earn physics bachelor's degrees. However, once women have earned a bachelor's degree in physics, they are able to persist in academic careers. In fact, our data show that women are represented on physics and astronomy faculties at about the rates we would expect given degree production in the past. Finally, women's representation in physics varies across countries, documenting the influence of social and cultural factors on the representation of women in science. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.