UNC-CH Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

Jennifer Blue, Miami University

“Studying Gender in Physics Education Research: Beyond the Binary”

Much work in physics education research, including much of my own, has examined differences in preparation, persistence, and performance between male and female students. I now believe that there are issues with the implied theoretical framework behind this work. When we look outside of physics, we see a growing, rich literature about the non-binary nature of gender, about intersectionality, and about identity formation. With other PER colleagues, I have called on our field to expand our framework and perform richer studies (Physical Review Education Research 12, 020114, 2016). We also propose short-term strategies that all physicists can employ to make our classrooms and labs more inclusive (Physics Today, March 2018).