Enlightened Searches for Talent are Needed to Bring Newcomers into Physics

The National Academies have suggested that increasing diversity in STEM will be critical to the future competitiveness of the US in these areas [1], and the leadership of both the NSF [2] and the APS is taking this seriously. Physics and Astronomy programs grant, on average, only one PhD every 5 and 10 years, respectively, to members of underrepresented groups [3]. We are therefore not surprisingly the least diverse of the sciences [4]. In this talk, I will discuss several opportunities that may help our community move toward meeting these goals. The most universally applicable regard perturbing graduate admissions policies and practices [5], and employing key features of successful Bridge Programs into graduate programs [6]. For the former, we need to reevaluate the use of the GRE exams [7], and develop and implement more enlightened searches for talent. \\[4pt] [1] ``Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads,'' The National Acadamies Press (2011);\\[0pt] [2] Joan Ferrini-Mundy, ``Driven by Diversity,'' Science \textbf{340}, 278 (2013).\\[0pt] [3] Stassun, K.G., ``Building Bridges to Diversity'', Mercury, \textbf{34}, 3 (2005).\\[0pt] [4] http://www.aps.org/programs/education/statistics/minoritydegrees.cfm\\[0pt] [5] Casey W. Miller, ``Admissions Criteria and Diversity in Graduate School,''APS News, The Back Page, February 2013. http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201302/backpage.cfm\\[0pt] [6] Stassun, K.G., Sturm, S., Holley-Bockelmann, K., Burger, A., Ernst, D., {\&} Webb, D., Am. J. Phys. \textbf{79}, 374 (2011).\\[0pt] [7] http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/news/GREandDiversity.html