Speaker: Patricia Rankin

Professor and Department Chair

Arizona State University

Department of Physics

Host: Plaster

Title: Physics is Fun! Everyone should do it

Abstract: Patricia Rankin became a physicist because she enjoyed it. She still enjoys it. She remembers being asked as a student why more women didn’t study physics. She can now give a much better answer to that question. This talk looks at how physicists solve problems, and why how we think impacts the demographics of our field. She will discuss how our understanding of what makes people leave physics has evolved and why the focus is now on a process driven approach. She will argue that while the field would benefit from more diversity, what matters to an individual is that they get to do what they enjoy and feel welcome.