While the percentage of women** in all STEM fields has been growing over the past few decades, Physics has always lagged behind. This can be seen clearly in the graph of the fraction of bachelors degrees earned by women since 1965, shown below.

The underrepresentation of women is worse in every successive tier of education. In 2012, women made up 20% of both Physics Bachelor’s and Doctorate degree recipients, but only 18% of Postdoctorates. In 2014, women held a measly 10% of full Professor positions in Physics. A common effort to address the gender gap in Physics departments are Women in Physics organizations, which strive to improve retention by direct support of the undergraduate students.

University of Oregon Women in Physics was formed in Fall 2016. Our main goal is to promote a sense of community within the department. We aim to connect women and other gender minorities in different stages of their careers (undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members) in order to build a strong internal network. In particular, we hope this will provide undergraduate students with people in the department that they are comfortable seeking out for advice and support, or simply a friendly chat. Group activities include quarterly social events, weekly lunches, and the μWiP mentorship program. The group is open to any interested member of the University of Oregon community that supports gender diversity within physics, and we hope to see you at our quarterly socials and weekly lunches (see the calendar for details)!

** We use an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female” to include trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who are significantly female-identified.