The Intersection of Identity and Performing Arts for Black Physicist

How one negotiates their physics identity is crucial to gaining and maintaining membership in the physics community. However, there is an exclusive culture of physics that has marginalized Black people and leads them to feel that they do not fit the criteria of who a physicist is supposed to be. In an effort to counter the systemic marginalization of Black students in physics, we consider the role performing arts plays in the positive development of science identity. In this work, building on previous studies of physics and racial identities, and studies that demonstrate the positive role of arts for underrepresented groups in STEM, we collect and analyze interviews of thirteen Black physicists. We identify themes that relate to the ways in which Black physicists participate in the performing arts, and map those themes onto the previously- developed Critical Physics Identity (CPI) framework. We find that the performing arts can have positive impacts for Black physicists' identities by serving as a material resource, and can activate ideational resources, which support relational resources or enhance a person's sense of performance/ competence.~