Physics Bachelors: Influences and Backgrounds

Recent physics bachelor’s degree recipients indicated they pursued their undergraduate degree as a result of a variety of influences, ranging from informal exposure to science (e.g., visiting a museum) to taking a physics course in high school. This report focuses on what new physics bachelors indicated influenced them to pursue a physics bachelor’s degree. It also examines student’s’ educational background, such as taking a high school physics course or starting their undergraduate education at a two-year institution, and the influence these had on their path to receiving a physics degree.

Past Influences

Physics bachelors from the classes of 2021 and 2022 were asked what inspired them to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics. The most selected options overall were “Informal exposure to science” followed by a “High school physics teacher or class” (Figure 1). While the overall proportion of respondents who selected other options was also high, there are statistically significant differences among reported influences by gender. Men were more likely than women to report being affected by a variety of influences: a notable person in science, a personal hobby, science literature, movies or television shows, and internet content. There was only one influence women were more likely to select than men: a “College or university professor or class.” Respondents were permitted to check each influence that applied to them. Men selected a median of five influences, whereas women selected a median of four.

Figure 1

There were also differences among correlations between pairs of influences chosen by gender. There appears to be no pair of influences that correlate more strongly than any other pair for men. That is, men selecting any one influence were no more likely to select a particular additional category, implying a wide range of influences. The influences for women were more correlated. Women who indicated they were influenced by a high school teacher or class were also likely to indicate that they were influenced by a college course or professor. While firm conclusions are hard to draw from this type of analysis, it implies that academic role models and interpersonal relationships were important influences for women in pursuing a degree in physics. It is important to note that regardless of gender, high school teachers or classes were the second most influential reason reported by physics bachelors for pursuing a physics major.

High School Physics

The vast majority of physics bachelors (90%) had taken some form of physics prior to college, more than double the rate of all high school seniors (44%) (Table 1). About 9% of all high school seniors had taken an Advanced Placement (AP) physics course in 2019. This is a large increase in high school AP physics taking compared to 1995 when only 1% of all high school seniors had done so. This increase in AP physics course taking for high school students translated into a larger proportion of physics bachelors who had taken a high school AP physics class. Among the physics bachelors in the classes of 1999 and 2000, 33% had taken a high school AP physics class; for the classes of 2021 and 2022 that proportion increased to 57%. Nationally, steps have been taken in recent years to increase accessibility to AP physics classes. Reorganization of the AP physics course structure and curriculum a decade ago likely had a significant influence on the proportion of high school students and physics bachelors who were high school AP physics takers.

Table 1

Just under half of respondents (45%) indicated that they only took one high school physics class, while 31% took two classes and 14% took three or more. Men were more likely than women to report their highest-level physics course taken was AP Physics C, 28% vs 24%, respectively. College-level courses and AP-equivalent foreign classes accounted for about 1% of the physics bachelors who had taken an advanced form of physics in high school.

As seen in Figure 1, having taken a high school physics class is one of the most frequently cited influences for an individual to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics. Students whose highest high school physics class was AP level were more likely to indicate that their class influenced them to pursue a physics bachelor’s degree than students taking lower-level courses (Figure 2).

Figure 2

A large fraction of students who had taken an introductory-level high school physics class (general physics or conceptual physics) also indicated that the class was influential in their pursuing a physics major. Even some (10%) of the few students who did not take a physics class in high school indicated that the presence of a class or the interaction with a physics teacher had an influence on their pursuing the major.

Two-Year Colleges

About 13% of all physics bachelors from the classes of 2021 and 2022 combined began their post secondary education at a two-year or community college. This rate has remained stable over recent years. The proportion of men and women doing so was similar.

The highest level of high school physics taken by physics bachelors strongly correlates with whether they started their undergraduate education at a two-year college (Figure 3). Forty percent of physics bachelors who did not take a high school course started their undergraduate education at a two-year college. As the level of high school physics courses taken increases, the proportion starting their undergraduate education at a two-year college decreases, with only four percent of physics bachelors who took an APC physics class in high school starting their undergraduate education at a two-year college. Clearly two-year colleges play a role in directing and preparing many students to pursue a physics bachelor’s degree.

Figure 3

Conclusion

There are a number of factors that physics bachelors report led them toward their degree in the subject, ranging from at-home influence of family members all the way to the manner in which they began their post-high-school education. While women more often reported being influenced by academic interactions (both at high school and college levels), men were influenced by a much wider variety of experiences. The highest level of physics taken during high school correlated with whether or not respondents started at a two-year college, with those taking traditionally higher-level physics (such as Advanced Placement courses) more likely to begin their post-high-school education at a four-year institution. Additionally, the higher the level of high school physics taken, the more likely an individual would report that it influenced their decision to pursue further education in the subject.

Survey Methodology

Each fall AIP Statistical Research conducts a Survey of Enrollments and Degrees, which asks all degree-granting physics and astronomy departments in the US to provide information concerning the number of students they have enrolled and counts of recent degree recipients. At the same time, we ask for the names and contact information of recent bachelor’s degree recipients. We then use this degree recipient information to conduct our follow-up survey in the winter following the academic year in which respondents received their degrees. The data in this report comes from those surveys.

The data in this report primarily comes from the physics bachelor’s degree recipient follow-up survey for the classes of 2021 and 2022. The classes of 2021 and 2022 included 9,031 and 8,618 graduates earning a physics bachelor’s, respectively. The findings in this report are based on information on 3,642 physics bachelors from those degree years. The follow-up surveys were administered in a web-based format. Nonresponding degree recipients were contacted up to six times with invitations to participate in the survey.

Data in Table 1 from the AIP 2018-19 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers does not include data for Physics Advanced Placement B (APB), as the course ceased being offered in 2014-15. APB remained an option on the follow-up survey until the class of 2022, as those who graduated from college at that point could have taken the course during their high school years. All references to APB in figures reflect answers only from the class of 2021.

Our survey also included options for a gender identity other than man or woman; however, due to the low number of respondents in this category, we cannot reliably report disaggregated data on these genders.

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Physics Bachelors: Influences and Backgrounds

By Jack Pold and Patrick Mulvey

Published: May 2024

American Institute of Physics

1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740