Very Few Women Among the Nation’s Physics Department Faculty

A new report from the American Institute of Physics finds that women remain a very small percentage of faculty in the field of physics. In 2012, there were 9,050 faculty members teaching in physics departments at colleges and universities nationwide. Of these, 1,374, or 15.2 percent were women.

The numbers are particularly startling when it comes to women of color in physics faculty positions. There are fewer than 75 women serving as physics and astronomy faculty members who are either African-American or Hispanic in the entire United States. There are only 14 Black women teaching physics at universities that grant doctoral degrees in the field.

The full report, African Americans & Hispanics Among Physics & Astronomy Faculty: Results from the 2012 Survey of Physics & Astronomy Degree-Granting Departments, was authored by Rachel Ivie, Garrett Anderson, and Susan White. It may be downloaded by clicking here.