Problem sets and other deterrents for women

James Trefil and Sarah Swartz, authors of “Problems with problem sets” (PHYSICS TODAY, November 2011, page 49 ), cite the approximately equal numbers of men and women in high school physics courses and the far fewer women than men who earn physics bachelor’s degrees as evidence that “the root of the problem in physics lies in the undergraduate experience.” I don’t think that’s at all clear from the evidence cited. The authors’ interpretation assumes that equal numbers of women and men in high school courses indicate equal interests in pursuing physics degrees. That assumption is unjustified.

Students enroll in high school physics for a variety of reasons. In Texas, where I teach, physics is required for the courses of study followed by a large majority of Texas students. Even when physics courses are optional, as is the case with our second-year courses, students often sign up because they need them to get into a competitive college or because they want to study medicine, architecture, engineering, or some other major that requires physics and they want to start learning it in high school. The presence of those students may well mask a gender imbalance that already exists in high school or at the start of undergraduate studies. Indeed, according to the American Institute of Physics research that Trefil and Swartz cite, only 32% of high school students who sign up for AP physics are women. Thus much of the disparity is already evident before the physics students have opened their first college physics text.

I teach my students that in order to solve a problem, you first must clearly identify it. In that spirit, I think more research is needed before we lay the blame on “the undergraduate experience.”