Conference for Graduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics 2024

Join the other conference attendees for breakfast.

Each of us has a unique path to and through physics. It is our responsibility to curate this path such that we find community with others, supporting and lifting one another along the way. This plenary session, facilitated by Michelle Lollie, Ph.D., will highlight one such story of self-discovery and advocacy for self and others in physics — and ultimately in life.

Physics students graduate with a huge array of transferable skills, which are extremely useful to employers, particularly in the private sector, which is the largest employment base of physicists at all degree levels. However, the key to successfully connecting with these opportunities lies in how well graduates are able to identify careers that fit their skills and interests and communicate that fit effectively to potential employers. In this workshop, facilitated by APS Head of Career Programs Crystal Bailey, Ph.D., participants will focus on effective strategies for searching for and applying to jobs in non-academic settings.

Physics students graduate with a huge array of transferable skills, which are extremely useful to employers, particularly in the private sector, which is the largest employment base of physicists at all degree levels. However, the key to successfully connecting with these opportunities lies in how well graduates are able to identify careers that fit their skills and interests and communicate that fit effectively to potential employers. In this workshop, facilitated by APS Head of Career Programs Crystal Bailey, Ph.D., participants will focus on effective strategies for searching for and applying to jobs in non-academic settings.

In this interactive session, Kirsten McMichael discusses how DEI initiatives can be implemented at the collaboration and department level to make widespread change. After learning of some existing programs and structures, participants will work in groups to identify how they can personally make an impact in their own collaborations and departments.

In this talk, Raghav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli focuses on the importance of understanding what our identities are. This discussion asks questions such as, How do my identities influence my interactions with others? How does my implicit bias come into play into my interactions with others in the work that I do? How does it evolve over time across the many different career stages and personal journey?

Many scientists hope to share their research with people outside of professional science but often assume that their enthusiasm for their work will be enough to connect with their audience. In this session, facilitated by Lucian Walkowicz, participants will discuss tools and approaches for putting their audience's needs and motivations at the center of their science communication, resulting in more resonant, relevant experiences.

Mentoring is a collaborative, interdependent relationship where mentees and mentors engage as partners through reciprocal activities such as planning, acting, reflecting, questioning, and problem-solving. In this seminar, presented by Kelly Diggs, mentees will develop the knowledge and skills to proactively and effectively navigate their mentoring relationships and career progression, including learning approaches to maintaining effective communication, aligning expectations, addressing equity and inclusion, building research self-efficacy, achieving independence, and seeking professional development.

The career panel will be moderated by Winter Parts and feature Eliza Kempton, Veronika Kruse, and Neha Pachauri as speakers.

In this interactive session, presented by Midhat Farooq and Winter Parts, participants will learn about creating an inclusive community on their campus, including setting goals, getting members, securing funding, and leveraging existing resources. The session will include guidance on overcoming common challenges. The facilitators will also address conducting advocacy work within and outside of specific groups and how to balance this work with research and avoid burnout.

This session will provide an overview of the conduct that falls within the umbrella term of “sexual harassment” and will discuss how this conduct can manifest in educational and workplace contexts. The presentation will identify the unique barriers and challenges that graduate students and employees within the sciences may face as well as the institutional support available to individuals impacted by these issues. Finally, the session will include a discussion of how participants can play a role in preventing sexual harassment and how to support their colleagues who have experienced harm.

In this talk, Saptaparna Bhattacharya will focus on navigating the academic job market and will narrate the process of obtaining an academic job offer based on recent experience. As an early career physicist, Bhattacharya will also delve into the challenges associated with this process.