Improving representation in physical sciences using a Departmental Action Team

Women and minority students are largely underrepresented in the physical sciences. Here we describe a faculty-, student-, and staff-led group, called a Departmental Action Team (DAT), created to study the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in one physical sciences department. As a result of the DAT's work, the department has created a new standing committee to improve outreach and support for students from underrepresented groups. We describe how the efforts of the DAT created a departmental context that was able to leverage a campus-level diversity initiative to support meaningful, department-wide discussions and a plan for improving diversity and equity in the major. As such, we present an example of departmental change that could serve as a model for other physical science departments seeking to create similar change.