American Physical Society Leads Community-Wide Effort to Transform Physics Culture

New coalition of nearly 100 physics organizations aims to make the field more inclusive and equitable

COLLEGE PARK, MD, September 1, 2020 — The American Physical Society (APS) is pleased to announce a new consortium of physics departments, laboratories, and research collaborations committed to improving equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). By establishing a community of transformation, the APS Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (APS-IDEA) will address long-standing, systemic barriers that have led to a gross underrepresentation of marginalized groups in physics.

The APS-IDEA network is composed of nearly 100 institutions across the United States and around the world. With support from the APS Innovation Fund, the program provides a flexible platform for physics organizations to work together to become more inclusive of all social identities, reflect the diversity of the nation, and ensure equal distribution of opportunities and resources. The participating institutions recently met during two virtual workshops.

According to the American Institute of Physics National Task Force to Elevate African American Representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy (TEAM-UP), less than 4% of bachelor’s degrees in physics are awarded to African Americans and only 21% are awarded to women. The underrepresentation of these and other excluded groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community and ethnic minorities, is the result of a complex system of discrimination, harassment, and lack of a supportive environment that together erode these individuals’ sense of belonging.

APS has long expressed its commitment to promoting an inclusive workplace (1988), protecting individuals from discrimination (2000), and fostering diversity (2008). The Society has also categorically condemned racism, racial violence, and sexual harassment. During an APS webinar held in June, a panel of physicists called on the community to translate passion into action. APS-IDEA was established to catalyze collective change by empowering individual research institutions to apply evidence-based practices to increase EDI among their own students and scientists.

The following institutions have been accepted into the APS-IDEA Network:

  • Aalto University
  • Argonne National Laboratory
  • Arizona State University
  • Auburn University
  • Augustana College
  • Bridgewater State University
  • Brown University
  • California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
  • California Lutheran University
  • California State University, Long Beach
  • California State University, East Bay
  • Carleton College
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Case Western Reserve University
  • City College of New York
  • Colgate University
  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Columbia University
  • Dalhousie University
  • Donostia International Physics Center
  • Florida International University
  • Forschungszentrum Jülich
  • Hamilton College
  • Harvard University
  • Hendrix College
  • Howard University and National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Indiana University
  • JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Kansas State University
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Lawrence Livermore National Lab
  • Lawrence Technological University
  • Los Alamos National Lab
  • Louisiana State University
  • Loyola University, Chicago
  • Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Dark Energy Science Collaboration (LSST DESC)
  • Lux-Zeplin (LZ) Collaboration
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Michigan State University
  • Mississippi State University
  • Mount Holyoke College
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Astroparticle Physics Lab
  • National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
  • North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves
  • North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
  • North Carolina State University
  • Ohio State University
  • Ohio University
  • Oregon State University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Pomona College
  • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
  • Rio de Janeiro State University
  • Rowan University
  • Simon Fraser University
  • Simons Observatory
  • Skidmore College
  • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
  • St. Mary's College of Maryland
  • Stanford University
  • SUNY Potsdam
  • Syracuse University
  • Texas State University
  • Towson University
  • TRIUMF
  • Université de Montréal
  • University of Alberta
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • University of California, Davis
  • University of California, Irvine
  • University of California, Riverside
  • University of California, Santa Cruz
  • University of Central Florida
  • University of Chicago
  • University of Cincinnati
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Kansas
  • University of Manitoba
  • University of Massachusetts, Lowell
  • University of Michigan
  • University of New Hampshire
  • University of North Florida
  • University of Northern Iowa
  • University of Oklahoma
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • University of Queensland
  • University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics
  • University of Sherbrooke
  • University of Texas, Austin
  • University of Washington, Bothell
  • University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Vanderbilt University
  • Washington University in St. Louis
  • West Virginia University
  • Yale University

For more information, please visit the APS-IDEA page.

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The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.