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  • Featured in Physics
  • Open Access

Majority group physics instructors struggle to notice, name, and disrupt racist and sexist student interactions

Melissa Dancy

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, 010142 – Published 25 April, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.21.010142

Abstract

Inequity is persistent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classrooms despite significant attention to upending it. In order to better understand how and why inequity persists, an analysis is presented of 27 self-identified white male physics faculty and graduate students responding to an interview prompt about the social exclusion of a Black woman by peers in a physics classroom. Three main research questions are addressed: (i) How familiar are these men with the alienation Black women frequently experience?, (ii) To what do they attribute this alienation?, and (iii) What do they think an instructor should do in a classroom where this alienation is occurring? Interviewees were found to have little understanding of the bias and discrimination Black women face, were hesitant to name the underlying cause as racism or sexism, and generally had limited insight into how to address racial and gender bias in their own classrooms. These findings indicate majority group instructors are ill equipped to recognize or disrupt oppressive structures in their own classrooms and may inadvertently exacerbate hostile interactions.

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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Opinion

Fairness is Still Missing in Physics Departments

Published 25 April, 2025

Departments and instructors are responsible for ensuring that their students are treated equitably, and it is time they put that responsibility into action.

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Article Text

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, 010142– Published 25 April, 2025
  • Received 18 September 2024
  • Accepted 4 March 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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