Women-only spaces in physics: an anachronism in the 21st century, or still crucial?

Judith Hillier, from the University of Oxford Department of Education, will discuss whether women-only spaces in physics are still necessary, using the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics as a starting point.

About the seminar

For the last five years, the University of Oxford has hosted a conference for women studying physics at undergraduate level in the UK, a country where a significant imbalance exists between the genders for rates of participation in physics, both at school and at university level. It should be noted that an inclusive notion of gender is used throughout as the conference aims to include all people who identify as women.

Over these five years, 500 people who identify as female have participated in the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP), providing glowing testimonials in the conference evaluations, and over 1,000 others have applied to take part. But why does such a conference matter? Why are women-only spaces in physics still valuable? Are they not an anachronism in the 21^st century?

This talk will present some of the key findings from the conference evaluations across the five years, and also explore the longer-term impact on participants from the earlier conferences, in order to address the questions of whether women-only spaces in physics are beneficial, and, if so, in what ways, and are they still appropriate?

About the speaker

Judith Hillier is Associate Professor of Science Education at the University of Oxford Department of Education.

Her research includes initial teacher education, with a focus on how and why people become physics teachers, explanations in science education, and the under-representation of women in physics.

Attending the event

The seminar is free to attend and there is no need to book.