Female-friendly physics departments

Female-friendly physics departments
This month, thousands of college seniors will be deciding which graduate school to attend. An important issue for female students concerns the climate for women in the various departments. To help give prospective students a better idea of the climate for women at graduate institutions, the American Physical Society Committee on the Status of Women in Physics has established a database in which department chairs answer some questions (“Does your institution have family leave policies, health insurance, etc.?”) and then discuss the climate in their departments. Over 110 institutions have responded. A discussion of the database can be found in the February 2006 APS News, and in the CSWP Gazette. The results are athttp://cswp.catlla.com/results.php, and all are welcome to peruse this database.

Marc Sher
College of William and Mary, Virginia