A physics master's degree provides the recipient with a variety of career options. Some master's recipients will continue their education at the graduate level in physics or another field, where others enter the workforce pursuing a wide range of employment opportunities. This "Focus On" provides an in-depth analysis of physics…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census of all degree-granting physics departments in the United States and Puerto Rico. The survey had a 95% response rate from the 751 departments that granted physics bachelor's degrees in the class of 2010. Results show that the number of physics bachelor's…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census of all degree-granting physics departments in the United States and Puerto Rico. The survey, collecting data from the 754 departments that granted bachelor's degrees in the class of 2008, had a 97% response rate. Estimates were derived and included in…

In the fall of 2008, the authors contacted a representative sample of over 3,600 high schools in the U.S., both public and private, to determine whether or not physics was taught there. They received responses from over 99% of the schools. For the schools which indicated they were offering physics, they obtained contact information for the…

Physics and geoscience consistently rank near the bottom among all disciplines in their ability to attract and retain African American students. Before delving into these trends, it is important to establish a context for discussing the data and their implications. African Americans comprise 12.4% of the U.S. population, but their representation…

This paper presents data covering the representation of African Americans among physics and geoscience degree recipients at each stage of the educational system. The data were collected by several statistical agencies and are here provided in far more detail than has ever been available before. By placing all the data in one place, this paper…

On the weekend of February 3-6, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois hosted the 2005 National Conference of Black Physics Students, marking the 19th consecutive year that the Conference has provided African American physics students with the unique opportunity to meet and network with counterparts from all across…

The eighteenth annual National Conference of Black Physics Students (NCBPS) was held February 5-8, 2004 at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Conference brought together Black students interested in physics to meet and network with Black working physicists, corporate as well as graduate school recruiters, faculty members, administrators,…