Women in Physics

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Activities

The OSU Women in Physics group exists to support women as they pursue their careers in areas where women typically represent 10-20% of the workforce.   The group consists of faculty and students in the department, alumni, and other physicists on campus or in the community. We meet informally every term; topics of discussion are wide-ranging.

Other Women in Science Programs exist on campus in Engineering and Chemistry.  The University of Oregon also has a Women in Graduate Sciences group.

The department hosts a mentoring wiki with a page for women in physics.

Faculty

Oregon State University's Physics Department has four women faculty members. Corinne Manogue is a theoretical physicist who researches gravity and string theory; she is also active in curriculum reform and Physics Education Research. Janet Tate is an experimental solid state physicist whose research is in electronic materials, especially thin-film semiconductors. Oksana Ostroverkhova is an experimentalist with interests in fast optics, condensed matter physics, and biomolecular systems. Dedra Demaree is a Physics Education Research specialist with a particular interest in writing, and is working to reform the introductory curriculum. The department has already restructured the upper-division physics curriculum resulting in the Paradigms in Physics program, directed by Corinne Manogue. This program emphasizes the unity of physics and implements active engagement and group problem-solving. The department is now working to incorporate these ideas into the introductory courses. 

Our department encourages and fosters the ambition of women in physics, and offers exciting forefront research opportunities that can lead to varied and interesting careers.  The College of Science and the Department of Physics have been proactive in recruiting women faculty, and dual hires are common.  (See Physics Today, July 1999, for a discussion of dual career hiring issues in Physics.)

Graduate Students

We have about 40 graduate students, most of whom pursue Ph.D. or M.S. degrees in experimental or theoretical solid state physics, atomic, molecular and optical physics, computational physics, or physics education. Others are part of an Applied Physics Masters program that aims to provide a broader experience for those who want careers outside of academics. Classes from other departments such as Mathematics, Engineering, Chemistry, Oceanography, Science Education, are incorporated into the Masters program. We also have a Professional Masters Program that caters to those physicists interested in taking advantage of their technical know-how in a career in business. All programs contain a research and writing element, but not all need incorporate a thesis.

Undergraduate Students

We award about 20 B.S. degrees in Physics, Engineering Physics, and Computational Physics each year. Our Paradigms in Physics curriculum is innovative and fun. Students learn to think about physics the way professionals do. We use many different pedagogies such as group activities, integrated laboratories, computer visualization. There is a strong cohort and the atmosphere is very supportive. There are opportunities for research - all students complete a senior thesis. Recent OSU graduates are enrolled in graduate schools all over the country: Arizona State University, Princeton, UCLA, U. C. Santa Cruz, University of New Mexico, Washington State University, University of Washington, and Cornell.  Others have jobs in high tech industry: Hewlett Packard, FEI, Cascade Microtech, to name a few in Oregon.  Advanced undergraduates have an opportunity to be teaching assistants in our introductory courses.  The OSU sorority Sigma Delta Omega is for women in science.

Information for and about Women in Science and Technology

APS Women in Physics page
APS Committee on the Status of Women in Physics page (CSWP)
The IUPAP Working group on Women in Physics has sponsored several international conferences on Women in Physics
IoP report Institute of Physics (UK) 2006 report on Women in University Physics Departments
AIP statistics American Institute of Physics statistics
AWIS Association for Women in Science
AAUW American Association of University Women
4000 years of women in science

Fellowships and Scholarships

Some of the information below was obtained from OSU's Research Office. Contact them at 737-3437 for more details, and for information about many other fellowship opportunities for both men and women. The Physics Department main office and the Women in Physics bulletin board (opposite the main office) also have information.

AAUW Educational Foundation, Fellowships and Grants. Several fellowships and grants are available for women in doctoral and post-doctoral studies for advanced study nationally and internationally. Deadlines vary.
Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship Awards for Women.
NSF Graduate Fellowships.
National Physical Sciences Consortium Graduate Fellowships.

Bulletin Boards

There are several electronic bulletin boards related to issues about women in science. One well-known one is WIPHYS, moderated by the American Physical Society's Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) which often lists job postings, sometimes has requests for particular subject matter for teaching courses, and also has discussions about other issues relating to women in physics. It is a moderated list, so that one receives bulletins every week or two weeks, and it is not intrusive. Information about how to subscribe to and post to the list are at the CSWP homepage.

Employment

Everyone needs to get a job sometime! This section provides starting points for looking for jobs that a person with an M.S. or Ph.D. in Physics might typically consider. Don't feel constrained, though. Physicists are extraordinarily versatile and have found careers from the traditional ones in academia to those in finance and medicine. Talk to faculty members, other graduate students who are currently seeking jobs, and search the internet. Personal contact is important, but resume posting services can sometimes be very helpful.  We also have a page on the mentor wiki devoted to the job search.

Job postings

American Physical Society
American Institute of Physics
Physics Today 
PhDs.org Science, Math, and Engineering Careers

PhysicsWeb
TipTop
Dice
Sonoma State's WIP posting

The Pacific Northwest

is a great place to live. Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA have a large density of high-tech employers, and Corvallis has Hewlett-Packard Company's largest research center outside of California, along with many smaller technical companies.

National Labs

Lawrence Livermore
Lawrence Berkeley
Pacific Northwest
Brookhaven
Oak Ridge
Argonne
Los Alamos

Bits and Pieces:

Here's an interview with laser physicist Margaret Murnane, MacArthur "Genius" Award winner.