Networks of Support: Investigating a Counterspace that Provides Identity Resources for Minoritized Students in Post-Secondary Physics

Abstract

There is recent evidence suggesting that formal and informal support networks for minoritized students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) can contribute to their persistence in the field. These counterspaces can serve as “safe spaces” where deficit notions of minoritized students can be challenged and where a positive collegiate climate can be established. Generally, counterspaces are found outside of STEM departments: with mentors, in campus student groups, or in conferences focused on diversity in STEM. However, two participants in a study by Johnson and colleagues reported evidence suggesting that physics departments themselves can act as counterspaces. We are inspired by this finding to investigate the role that a network of support for minoritized students in a physics department of an Eastern Canadian university has on female students’ experiences in their physics program. In this paper, we present data suggesting that participation in this network can promote forms of participation that may be especially beneficial for minoritized students in physics. We argue that this network acts as a counterspace built into the structure of a university physics department. Furthermore, we suggest that access to counterspaces such as this one may be able to provide identity resources that minoritized students draw on to position themselves as insiders when entering physics programs.