The Conversation Series is a grassroots initiative consisting of monthly discussion events ("Conversations") on topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), organized by and for the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) at McMaster University. The initiative originated in June 2020 with the #ShutDownSTEM strike, which…

This article describes a graduate student-led effort to develop a climate survey to assess, advocate for, and improve the well-being and mental health of graduate students and postdocs in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. Graduate students have an increased incidence of depression relative to the general…

The study consisted of three articles. Article one aimed to determine if there were any significant difference in science graduate students' (SGSs') conceptions of the "consensus tenets" of the nature of science (NOS) with respect to demographic factors -- the SGSs' academic and research characteristics. The participants were SGSs from…

There has been little work done in exploring the variations in admissions practices between different types of physics graduate programs. In this paper, we compared admissions practices in master's programs to a parallel data set collected from doctoral departments to understand the relative importance of particular admission criteria and looked…

Women and some racial and ethnic groups remain underrepresented in chemistry departments across the United States, and generally, efforts to improve representation have resulted in minimal or no improvements in the last 10 years. Here, we present the outcomes of a graduate-student-led initiative that sought to assess the issues affecting…

Nowadays, the rapid spread of the interdisciplinary approach contributes to the development of disciplines and scientific developments in many ways. Therefore, how the interdisciplinary approach is addressed in the studies carried out is important in terms of guiding other studies. For this purpose, an attempt to determine how 155 doctorate theses…

Polymers are part of our lives; scientists dedicated to polymer science design new materials thinking about more eco-friendly methodologies and satisfying people's needs. In most universities, polymer science is taught by academics associated with the traditional chemistry departments (organic, analytical, physical, and inorganic chemistry). In…

In this article, Brian Coppola begins with the single key concept of Boyer, in "Scholarship Reconsidered." The statement appears as follows: "We believe the time has come to move beyond the tired old "teaching versus research" debate and give the familiar and honorable term "scholarship" a broader, more capacious…

Background/Context: Education scholars have examined how state policy and informal practice can widen or reproduce racial and gender inequalities in graduate education. Just one empirical study, which focused on psychology programs, has identified organizational practice that supports recruitment and retention of graduate students of color. Focus…

Each fall, the Statistical Research Center conducts the "Survey of Enrollments and Degrees," which asks physics and astronomy departments to provide information concerning the number of students they have enrolled and counts of recent degree recipients. In connection with this survey, the names and contact information for their recent…

Writing-for-publication is a practice that doctoral students should acquire for integration into international research culture. Publication rates and forms of pedagogy supporting the development of publication skills for doctoral students, however, remain inadequate worldwide. Limited data of doctoral student publication from African universities…

The number of physics degrees earned in the U.S. continues to rise, with bachelor's and PhDs yet again reaching all-time highs. The 6,776 physics bachelor's degrees awarded in the 2011-2012 academic year represent an 8% increase over the previous year and an 86% increase from a recent low in 1999. Similarly, the number of PhDs (1,762) in…

Graduate teaching assistants are often left out of the science teacher education reform agenda, but these science educators are responsible for significant amounts of undergraduate instruction especially at large research universities. Within science departments specifically, a number of courses and laboratories are taught by graduate teaching…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census from October through February of all departments that offer degrees in astronomy (78) in the United States. Astronomy departments consist of stand-alone degree-granting departments (39) and departments that are administered along with a physics program…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census from October through February of all 75 departments that offer degrees in astronomy in the United States. For the class of 2008, the authors received responses from 73 (97%) of these departments. Estimates were derived and included in the totals for…