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Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions
written by Diana Sachmpazidi and Charles R. Henderson
Physics is one of the STEM fields with the highest attrition rates and a lack of diversity in graduate education. The results of retention rates of underrepresented racial minority (URM) students from the American Physical Society- Bridge Program (APS-BP) indicate a potential correlation exists between experiencing a supportive departmental environment and retention. We examine whether physics graduate URM and non-URM students' self-reports show meaningful differences in supportive components at their programs. We also examine students' self-reports of experiencing supportive departmental components between institutions that are and are not affiliated with the APS-BP. This study was based on physics graduate students' responses to a survey regarding their experiences of departmental structures. In this paper, we use 254 responses from U.S. citizen students enrolled at 20 research-intensive graduate programs. Performing multivariate analysis of variance and calculating effect sizes, we find URM students report experiencing supportive components in their programs at higher levels than non-URM students, except for financial support that includes having covered tuition for the entire program, and being offered health benefits. Looking at other available data in the larger survey to better understand this outcome, we find non-URM students receive graduate assistantships at a higher rate than URM students (89.7% vs. 62.5%, respectively), and URM students are more likely to either obtain a loan or self-support (working outside of campus) their graduate education compared to non-URM students (25% vs. 12%, respectively). Overall, our results suggest that physics graduate programs have practices in place to better support URM students on aspects related to their progress in the program, but are not paying similar attention to their financial needs. Finally, we find the APS-BP affiliated institutions provide more student support than non-affiliated institutions.
Physics Education Research Conference 2019
Part of the PER Conference series
Provo, UT: July 24-25, 2019
Pages 518-523
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Societal Issues
- Student Characteristics
= Affect
Education Practices
- Careers
- Recruitment
= Diversity
- School Improvement
- Graduate/Professional
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2019…
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This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2019.pr.Sachmpazidi
Keyword:
PERC 2019
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created January 10, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
January 10, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
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when Cataloged:
January 10, 2020
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AIP Format
D. Sachmpazidi and C. Henderson, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246).
AJP/PRST-PER
D. Sachmpazidi and C. Henderson, Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246>.
APA Format
Sachmpazidi, D., & Henderson, C. (2019, July 24-25). Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT. Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246
Chicago Format
Sachmpazidi, Diana, and Charles Henderson. "Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, July 24-25, 2019. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246 (accessed 3 October 2024).
MLA Format
Sachmpazidi, Diana, and Charles Henderson. "Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions." Physics Education Research Conference 2019. Provo, UT: 2019. 518-523 of PER Conference. 3 Oct. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Diana Sachmpazidi and Charles Henderson", Title = {Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2019}, Pages = {518-523}, Address = {Provo, UT}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 24-25}, Year = {2019} }
Refer Export Format

%A Diana Sachmpazidi %A Charles Henderson %T Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions %S PER Conference %D July 24-25 2019 %P 518-523 %C Provo, UT %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %O July 24-25 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Sachmpazidi, Diana %A Henderson, Charles %D July 24-25 2019 %T Experiences of departmental supports by physics graduate students: results from 20 research-intensive institutions %B Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %C Provo, UT %P 518-523 %S PER Conference %8 July 24-25 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15333&DocID=5246


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