Draft Recommendations from the 7th IUPAP Conference on Women in Physics

Exclude from Home Page, The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Women in Physics

IUPAP Conferences

  • Endorsement & Funding to conferences should be contingent on an anonymised review process for selecting contributed abstracts to the conference
  • Endorsement & Funding to conferences should be contingent on a plenary session on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion which should be embedded within the schedule and include expertise from the social sciences on intersectionality.  
  • Conferences or sessions for undergraduate students which should include sessions on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in order to foster inclusive thinking in the next generation
  • Demographics of speakers/chairs/attendees should be reported with an intersectionality lens and be available to attendees
  • Accessibility: IUPAP to sponsor accessible conferences, noting digital divide

IUPAP Members

  • Encourage IUPAP members to organize workshops to provide skills on entrepreneurship and innovation. 
  • Mentor, network, sponsor:  IUPAP calls on Members to facilitate Mentorship of women in physics at all levels
  • Represent: IUPAP calls on Members and Liaisons to provide opportunities for women in physics to have leadership roles
  • Systemic changes: IUPAP calls on Members to provide support and commitment to gender parity
  • Safe and welcoming environment: IUPAP calls on Members to implement code of conduct with zero tolerance for discrimination

IUPAP Processes

  • The Award nominations process should include certification that there are no known issues  of scientific misconduct or harassment for its awards.   Create mechanisms for revoking such honors if something is revealed later
  • support networking through requiring country liaison to be active and available to WiP working groups in their country
  • IUPAP to give some priority to physics education for females in their policies and projects.

Raise Awareness

  • Increase awareness of IUPAP amongst physics educators so that IUPAP’s programs gain traction and becomes visible to future generations.
  • Show what a physicist is: IUPAP to raise awareness of the roles of women in physics 
  • Discussion of mental health issues should be normalised
  • Increase awareness of imposter syndrome and bias by developing and delivering workshops for academics through conferences. The workshops should provide tips and strategies for countering these, go beyond theory..

Data and Metrics

  • Organize the gathering of and providing guidance on the quality of data, not restricted to only quantitative, for measuring research output which is fairer to females.
  • Consider ways in which metrics can be developed for parameters associated with teaching and its evaluation with an eye on the fact that females are more likely to receive inappropriate/irrelevant feedback and critique.
  • Set up a working group to consider reinvigorating the curriculum and the teaching of physics with the objective of providing a contemporary and ‘balanced’ physics education.  
  • Provide guidance on collecting, analysing, reporting, and storing data on the people of physics, to include: Principles which can be adapted to meet the needs of local communities; Prioritising and centering marginalised groups; and Paying attention to intersectionality of identities, such as indigenous women in physics