Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity

The Department of Physics and Astronomy strives to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for its faculty, staff, and students. This page describes the principles the department seeks to advance, gives resources for department members, and describes activities carried out in the department.

To contact the department about anything related to diversity, equity, and inclusivity, please email us at physicsDEI@mail.wvu.edu.

Principles

The following are definitions of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity embraced by the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy (from IndependentSector.org):

Diversity : all the ways in which people differ; often used in reference to race, ethnicity, and gender, but also includes age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, and physical appearance. Perhaps also: diversity of thought: ideas, perspectives, and values.

Equity : fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. Improving equity involves increasing justice and fairness within the procedures and processes of institutions or systems, as well as in their distribution of resources. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the root causes of outcome disparities within our society.

Inclusion : act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate. An inclusive and welcoming climate embraces differences and offers respect in words and actions for all people. It’s important to note that while an inclusive group is by definition diverse, a diverse group isn’t always inclusive. Increasingly, recognition of unconscious or ‘implicit bias’ helps organizations to be deliberate about addressing issues of inclusivity.

The department seeks to carry out its educational, research, and service missions in support of the WVU land-grant mission in a manner consistent with the goals of fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment in all aspects of department life.

Title IX Resources

The following resources may be useful for members of the department:

• The WVU Title IX and Office of Equity Assurance
• File a Title IX Complaint
• List of WVU Policies on Equity

WVU Programs

The following are programs through WVU that may be relevant to members of the department:

• WVU Safety & Wellness: Fostering an Inclusive Community
• WVU LGBTQ+ Center
• WVU Center for Veteran, Military and Family Programs
• WVU International Students and Scholars Services
• WVU Association for Women in Science
• WVU Student Diversity Ambassadors program
• WVU Parental Leave Program
• WVU Flexible Work Arrangements

• WVU Accessibility Services

• WVU First-Generation Initiatives

Department Activities

The following activities within the department are carried out in support of diversity, equity, and inclusivity:

1. The WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy is an American Physical Society Bridge Program Member Institution

2. The WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy is a member of the APS-IDEA Network

3. The WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy has a “Women in Physics” Listserv

4. The WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy has a monthly “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity” journal club; details follow

5. The WVU Physics Education Research (PER) faculty are members of the NSF INCLUDES Alliance First 2 Network and conduct research on diversity in STEM. See also:

   1. John Stewart’s research
   2. Kathryn Williamson’s page with articles on blind and deaf learners

6. Hosts planetarium shows for Black History Month and WVU’s Diversity Week centered around the book/movie Hidden Figures . (This true story of African American scientists making crucial contributions to NASA missions has an interesting connection to WVU – Katherine Johnson helped break the color barrier as a student at WVU and Dorothy Vaughn went to elementary school at a building across from WVU.) 


7. There is a departmental leave policy for students (the “alternate workload plan”) linked here.

8. The WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy has a standing “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity” committee. Responsibilities and activities include:

1. Organizes Safe Zone training (nearly 1/4 of department faculty are Safe Zone trained)
2. Sends monthly emails to the department about DEI and liaises with departmental committees
3. Organizes annual departmental Title IX trainings
4. Carries out an annual department climate survey (see below for details)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Journal Club

The DEI Journal Club was started in January 2019 by two faculty and a graduate student Diversity Ambassador. Anyone from the department can volunteer to choose an article and lead discussion. The journal club strives to provide a platform for regularly discussing DEI ideas and issues and keeping up to date on the relevant literature.

Dates of DEI Journal Club meetings and the journal articles discussed are:

Jan 30th, 2019	White Hall G51	Kathryn, Amber, Ned	"Inclusive Conversations" by Elizabeth H. Simmons (2015), article from Inside Higher Ed
February 27th	White Hall G51	Kathryn, Amber, Ned	"Towards Meaningful Physics Recognition: What does this recognition actually look like?" by Zahra Hazari & Cheryl Cass (2018), publication in The Physics Teacher, 56(7), 442.
Mon, March 25th	White Hall 105	Belinda, Amber	"How White People Handle Diversity Training in the Workplace," by Robin DiAngelo, article posted to Medium (2018) from "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" book
April, 24th	White Hall 105	Rodney	"Supporting Student Veteran Transition to College and Academic Success," by Michael J. Kirchner (2015), article in Adult Learning , 26(3), 116-123.
May	White Hall G04	Andrew Kaiser	"Sexual harassment reported by undergraduate female physicists," by Lauren M. Aycock et al. in Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Resarch (2019), 15, 010121.
August 28th, 2019	White Hall 105	Kathryn	"First-Generation College Students: Characteristics, Experiences, and Cognitive Development," by Patrick T. Terenzini et al. (1996), article in Research in Higher Education, 37(1).
September 25th, 2019	White Hall 105	DEI Committee	Debrief of Departmental Climate Report

Department Climate Survey

The WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is charged with carrying out an annual departmental climate survey. The purpose of the survey is to obtain longitudinal data to assess the culture in the department and obtain information to enact effective policies to improve DEI in the department. The first survey was done in Spring of 2019. Reports from the climate surveys are linked here:

• Spring 2019
• Spring 2020