The Double Bind in Physics Education: Intersectionality, Equity, and Belonging for Women of Color

This presentation will highlight themes from the book, The Double Bind in Physics Education, and underscore the magnitude of women of color’s underrepresentation in physics as a serious equity concern in the U.S. education and employment systems. The study draws from a longitudinal, qualitative study using interviews and ethnographic fieldnotes across 25 years on the lived experiences of ten self-identified women of color in physics. All data were analyzed, and key themes were identified using hybrid coding and informed by critical race theory and intersectionality theory. In-depth narratives describing phenomena experienced by individuals over time were created to represent critical cases. In this presentation, the norms of physics are examined—including the celebration of competitiveness and the prevailing insistence that physics is an objective space—to establish daily practices of belonging and not-belonging. Next, case studies of not-belonging for women of color are explored, including phenomena of invisibility, identity-based harassment, and low expectations by others. Their navigation and persistence through physics are also examined, including individual strategies such as “letting it slide” and finding community, as well as institutional strategies for inclusion. The significance of this presentation is that physics programs are illuminated through the eyes of women of color, challenging the belief that all physics practices are “objective.” The presentation will highlight how race and gender intersect in the lives of women of color and inform their social experiences in physics, and what individual and institutional factors enable them to overcome barriers to persist.