Download Logos | Future Faces of Physics Kit | Future Faces of Physics Jeopardy

In keeping with its commitment to help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional physics community, the SPS National Council recently adopted “Future Faces of Physics” as the theme for the 2007-2008 academic year. With this theme, the council aims to raise visibility and focus on issues of student diversity in physics. 
 
The representation of women in physics is dramatically lower than in other scientific disciplines, and the representation of minorities remains very low when compared to the general population distribution. Students from the nation’s poorest families have a much lower rate of college attendance and graduation, and first generation college attendees rarely earn degrees in any field of science.  

	Several members of the SPS National Council posed for this photo during the 2007 council meeting in Washington, DC.

Just as diversity is key to ensuring a species survival through times of change, diversity is key to maintaining a cutting-edge science program in a changing world. According to a recent National Academies Report, Beyond Bias and Barriers,

To maintain its scientific and engineering leadership amid increasing economic and educational globalization, the United States must aggressively pursue the innovative capacity of all of its people—women and men…It is essential that our academic institutions promote the educational and professional success of all people without regard for sex, race, or ethnicity.

What will physics look like ten years from now? Twenty years from now? One thing is certain – the more diverse the physicists and their perspectives, the more creative, exciting, and successful the field.

Join us in encouraging diversity in the future faces of physics!

• Adorn your SPS event flyers and other documents with the updated "Future Faces of Physics" SPS logo, downloadable here
• Host a Future Faces of Physics workshop/quiz show at your zone meeting or chapter meeting using this Future Faces of Physics Kit (email Kendra at krand@aip.org for more information)
• Participate, individually or with your SPS chapter, in the 2008 Quadrennial Congress of Sigma Pi Sigma
• Host a game of Future Faces of Physics Jeopardy!
• Hold a joint event with a minority group on campus
• Present a demo show or science lesson to students from underrepresented groups
• Check out Touch the Stars or Touch the Universe by Noreen Grice from your library and find out what it’s like to see the universe with your fingers
• Organize a panel discussion on diversity issues in science
• As a chapter, discuss how well your group reflects the larger student population distribution
• Encourage diversity in the future faces of physics at your school – perhaps by decorating the physics lounge to appeal to all types of students, expanding recruiting and outreach efforts, or inviting professors from underrepresented groups to give talks at SPS meetings

Also see:

Putting a New Face on Physics
Published in Symmetry by Krystle Williams, SPS Zone 2 Associate Councilor