Group Description

Categories: Academic and Educational, Cultural and Diversity

Composed of women graduate students, faculty and research associates in the School of Physics and Astronomy. Works towards increasing the visibility of women and improving the climate for women within the school.

wipa@umn.edu

Group's principal activities, events, or programs:

We provide networking opportunities for women graduate students, research associates, and faculty in physics and astronomy. We sponsor an annual luncheon to encourage relationships with women alumnae, coffee mentorship meetings, and discussion panels with female visitors to the department. We also work with other IT graduate women to promote and plan events for all women in IT.

How this group's activities benefit the University community:

These activities serve to create a broader sense of community and a mentoring network for women in fields where we are severely underrepresented.

How this group fits into its categories:

This organization is Academic because the group is composed of graduate students who deal with many challenges unique to academia. It fits in the category of Cultural and Diversity because we address the under representation of women in physics and astronomy. Part of our mission is to improve the climate (culture) in the department.

How to get involved with this group:

Although our group activities primarily benefit graduate students, undergraduates are invited to many of our events. For more information, check the webpage at http://groups.physics.umn.edu/wipa/. To join, send an email to wipa@umn.edu.