An analysis of institutional data to understand the outcome of obstacles faced by students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds is important in order to work toward promoting equity and inclusion. We use 10 years of institutional data at a large public research university to investigate the grades earned by students categorized on four demographic characteristics: gender, race/ethnicity, low-income status, and first-generation college student status. We find that on average across all years of study, underrepresented minority (URM) students experience a larger penalty to their mean overall and STEM GPA than even the most disadvantaged non-URM students. Moreover, the URM students with additional disadvantages due to socioeconomic status or first-generation college status were further penalized in their average GPA. These inequitable outcomes point to systemic inequities in higher education for students with historically disadvantaged backgrounds and the need to dismantle institutional inertia to support them.

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A recent paper used structural equation modeling to infer effects of gender-dependent student attitudes on several outcomes of introductory physics courses. The model used is precisely Markov equivalent to an equally plausible approximation in which a key gender-dependent coefficient in determining attitudes is indistinguishable from zero. I also argue that the qualitative framing may attribute to students motivations that actually belong to their teachers.

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In 2020, many instructors and students at colleges and universities were thrust into an unprecedented situation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. Even though they typically engage in in-person teaching and learning in brick and mortar classrooms, remote instruction was the only possibility. Many instructors at our institution who had to switch from in-person to remote instruction without any notice earlier in the year worked extremely hard to design and teach online courses to support their students during the second half of 2020. Since different instructors chose different pedagogical approaches for remote instruction, students taking multiple remote classes simultaneously experienced a variety of instructional strategies. We present an analysis of students' perceptions of remote learning in their lecture-based, active learning, and lab physics classes at a large research university in the USA, focusing on positive and negative aspects including collaboration, communication, and assessment. Student reflections emphasized the importance of grade incentives for out-of-class and in-class work; frequent, low-stakes assessments; community-building activities; and opportunities to study with peers. Reflecting on the challenges and successes of different types of remote instructional approaches from students' perspective could provide useful insight to guide the design of future online courses as well as some aspects of in-person courses.

Societal stereotypes and biases about who belongs in science courses and who can excel in them can impact short- and long-term outcomes of students from marginalized groups, e.g., women, including their grades and beliefs about science as well as retention in science disciplines. Therefore, developing a sustainable science education ecosystem requires fostering equitable and inclusive learning environments in which students from all demographic groups have comparable outcomes. Here we describe a study with more than five hundred students in an introductory physics course at a large research university in the US that investigated female and male students’ perceptions of the inclusiveness of the learning environment (including their sense of belonging, perceived recognition by others such as instructors, and perceived effectiveness of peer interaction) and how it predicted their physics course grades, self-efficacy, interest, and identity at the end of the course. We find gender differences in perceptions of the inclusiveness of the learning environment disadvantaging female students and that these perceptions played a major role in explaining student outcomes. These inequitable trends in the context of physics can be useful for contemplating how to develop an innovative sustainable science ecosystem using hands-on and minds-on science and create an equitable and inclusive learning environment to help all students excel in science.

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