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Op-Ed for Physics Seminar Fall 2023 about my perspective on advancing diversity in physics. Excerpts: "Studies conducted by the American Institute of Physics show that the amount of Physics degrees awarded to Black, Latino, and Indigenous students across Bachelor’s, Masters, and PhDs has increased from 3% to 13% in the past 25 years. I would like to rephrase this data to show the problem in physics as felt by minority students. Around 90% of physicists, across every level of higher education within the past generation, have been white and predominantly male. Past generations are even more homogenous as women, people of color, people of lower socioeconomic status, and people with disabilities (to name a few disenfranchised groups) were absolutely and specifically not allowed entry into academic institutions. The thousands of people that have graduated from these schools, these overwhelming statistics: this is evidence of a white supremacist & capitalist ideal at work, operating in real time." "I propose that an active counter to imbuing white supremacy into education and science and physics is to embrace interdisciplinary, collaborative research and not being afraid to do things that aren’t accepted by the current paradigm. Isn’t that part of science anyways, questioning not only inside a framework but the framework itself? Fixing diversity in physics requires large scale efforts to fix diversity in academia period. The issues in one field are not exclusive to that one when we are all part of the same academic body and this rapidly growing interconnected world." "In the classroom, an interdisciplinary education naturally emphasizes the importance of everyone’s voices, and teacher collaboration leads to a strengthened learning environment while decreasing teacher burn-out... Nearly all real-world problems are complex and have elements that include numerous scientific disciplines. Having an interdisciplinary education directly teaches you complex problem-solving skills and keeps you on your feet with fresh perspectives and ideas. Furthermore, this type of collaboration would inevitably diversify your world socially. As physicists, practically every other department is more diverse than your own. Meeting new people and becoming comfortable working in a diverse environment yourself will make you a better teacher of diversifying class. Embracing an inclusive version of education, rather than the discriminative one currently prized by academia, is a step away from an old white supremacist ideal and towards the future of learning."
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