BC co-hosts conference for undergraduate women in physics
Undergraduate women interested in physics had the opportunity to seek advice, learn about graduate school prospects, and explore careers in the field鈥攁s well to hear from a woman who changed astronomy forever鈥攁t a recent conference co-hosted by md传媒国产剧 College.
The 2024 American Physical Society鈥檚 Northeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP), sponsored by the physics departments of BC and Wellesley College, attracted more than 200 attendees to the Heights in January. Supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Energy, the American Physical Society, and the respective host institutions, the event was one of 13 CUWiP conferences held simultaneously throughout the country at sites including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and Stanford University.
Assistant Professor of Physics Benedetta Flebus, who co-organized the event with BC colleague Qiong Ma, welcomed participants to the conference, which was held on campus January 19-21. (Ann Hermes)
Locally co-organized by Assistant Professors of Physics Benedetta Flebus and Qiong Ma, the BC-based event featured a keynote address鈥攍ivestreamed from the University of Michigan to the CUWiP host sites鈥攂y University of Oxford Visiting Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a pioneer in the field of astronomy whose contributions were overlooked for decades.
In 1967, as a 24-year-old Cambridge University doctoral student assisting her thesis advisor, astronomer Antony Hewish, Bell Burnell discovered pulsars, the compact, spinning celestial objects that emit beams of radiation, like cosmic beacons鈥攁 finding that altered the perception of the universe.聽 It was Hewish, however, who was co-awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974.
Bell Burnell went on to an illustrious career: chancellor of the University of Dundee, president of the UK鈥檚 Royal Astronomical Society, and first female president of both the UK/Ireland Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. But years later, in a piece for The New York Times, she recalled the snub: 鈥淚 was a graduate student and a woman, which demoted my standing in terms of receiving a Nobel Prize.鈥�
In 2018, Bell Burnell was awarded the $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, which she donated to help persons in under-represented groups become physicists. The 2021 documentary 鈥淭he Silent Pulse of the Universe鈥� chronicled Bell Burnell鈥檚 arduous path to this astrophysics breakthrough, and society鈥檚 repudiation of an extraordinarily brilliant young woman and her crucial role in an advancement characterized as the greatest astronomical discovery of the 20th century.
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
鈥淚t can feel very uphill doing an undergraduate physics degree; if you are a [gender and/or ethnic] minority, it can feel even more so, but it鈥檚 worth hanging in there, because it opens so many doors,鈥� Bell Burnell told the CUWiP audience, which included more than 2,000 young women. 鈥淭here is, unfortunately, still a certain amount of bias that women can鈥檛 do physics; however, the more women who are members of a physics department, the better it gets. I find it immensely reassuring to be with such a large group of women who are all doing physics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a turning point when the men who lead physics departments recognize that it鈥檚 an issue that needs attention. We鈥檙e 90 percent of the way there; we鈥檙e beginning to win.鈥� 聽
In 2020, according to the APS, 25 percent of all U.S. physics bachelor鈥檚 degrees were earned by women, the highest percentage ever recorded. Some 30 percent of BC physics majors identify as female, and the department, chaired by Professor Michael J. Graf, has expressed a vigorous commitment to their support by founding the Society of Women in Physics, comprised of female graduate and undergrad students, post-docs, and faculty members who regularly meet for peer-to-peer learning, and to share advice and information about participation in research groups.
鈥淚 love physics, and I鈥檓 driven by the desire to understand how the world works at its most fundamental level,鈥� said Sarah Wells 鈥�24, a BC chemistry major minoring in physics, who came to CUWiP with the goal of meeting other women in the field. 鈥淏eing a minority in the sciences, it鈥檚 encouraging to see more women becoming involved, and inspiring to engage with those who have had similar experiences.鈥�
Flebus and Ma expressed appreciation for 鈥渦nwavering support鈥� from Wellesley College, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., Graf, colleagues, student volunteers, department staff, as well as Laura Steinberg, Seidner Family Executive Director of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. 聽
鈥淲e aspire to leave an enduring impact, instilling in these remarkable women the pride of being physics majors, and carrying this confidence with them throughout their lifelong journeys,鈥� the organizers said.
鈥淭he CUWiP series has played a crucial role in energizing and empowering young women interested in pursuing physics careers,鈥� said Graf. 鈥淭he entire team did an amazing job in making this event an impactful experience for the participants.鈥�