Report on Women in Plasma Physics workshop, 13 November 2023
2024.04.04 Tony Murphy and Anne Mai-Prochnow

A Mini-Workshop for Women in Plasma Physics was held as a Satellite Workshop during
AAPPS-DPP2023 (7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Plasma Physics, Nagoya, 12-17 November2023).
Date and Time of WS: Monday 13th November 2023, Time 19:00-21:00
The workshop was chaired by Dr Anne Mai-Prochnow, who organised the workshop withthe assistance of a planning committee (Prof. Bharati Kakad, Prof. Izumi Murakami, Prof.
Eunmi Choi, Dr Kanako Seki, Dr Nazish Rubab, Dr Choongki Sung, Dr Lu Wang, Dr YuxueZhang, Dr Natsumi Iwata, Prof. Mitsuru Kikuchi, Dr Tony Murphy).
There were about 38 attendees, including 7 men.
The workshop program was as follows.
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Welcome & Introduction Dr Anne Mai-Prochnow, WIPP Committee Chairperson:
Overall scenario related to women in plasma physics (or in research) based on
current statistics/reports, etc.
Prof. Setsuko Tajima, Vice Chair of AAPPS Working Group for Women in Physics,
Osaka University, Japan: The current status of AAPPS Working Group of Women inPhysicsDr Mamiko Sasao, Doshisa University, Japan: Physics education and unconscious
gender bias
Dr Daniela Grasso, CNR Institute for Complex Systems and Politecnico di Torino,
Italy: Is it possible organize a gender balanced conference?
Prof. Anisa Qamar, Uni. of Peshawar, Pakistan: Problems of Pakistani women toadopt physics as a career
Dr Weixin Guo, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China: Be braveenough to pursue your dreams---The growth experience of scientific researcher inuniversities
Open discussion led by WIPP committee member
Concluding remarks and Vote of Thanks by WIPP Committee member

Dr Mai-Prochnow made several important points in her introduction. She noted that of the 462
participants of AAPPS-DPP2023 (based on contributed papers), only 16% were women. For
the Asian countries with a large number of participants (China, Japan, India and Korea),
between 11 and 21% were women. Of the prizes offered by the AAPPS-DPP, 7 out of 37 U30
Scientist and Student Award recipients, 4 out of 50 Young Research Award recipients, andnone of the 12 Chandrasekhar Prize or 4 Plasma Innovation Prize recipients have been women.
Prof. Tajima presented resolutions adopted by the AAPPS Working Group on Women inPhysics in 2023. These included that:• All member societies should report on gender ratio of membership and board members;• There should be at least 20% female representation on scientific meeting organisingcommittees;• All award committee should have at least 1 women, and more women nominees shouldbe encouraged;• Awareness of unconscious bias should be increased;• There should be a minimum ratio of women invited speakers for all scientific meeting;• The fraction of women on organising and program committees should be reported.
Professor Sasao presented information from the Physics Education Research Committee in
Science Council of Japan that showed a 13% gender gap in physics understanding, which
decreased to zero after better teaching of concepts. Prof. Sasao noted a large gender gap inenrolment - physics always second last among STEM subjects, with reasons including themasculine image of physics and maths, and gender role stereotypes. Other problems wereunconscious bias, the image of physicists, lack of childcare, and difficulties in communication
among leaders.
Dr Grasso presented several recommendations for organising a gender-balanced conference,
based on her success in organising a conference with equal male and female representation on
the committee and as speakers. These included:• Build up a gender-balanced committee;• Cross-fertilise with fields where women are better represented if necessary;• Have clear rules for the gender balance of invited speakers (equal numbers).
Prof. Qamar, who was the first female PhD and first female professor in her province, noted
several problems facing Pakistani women seeking a career in physics. These included gender
discrimination, cultural and social norms, lack of support, mentorship and role models, lack ofaccess to education, the workplace environment, and the safety and security situation,
especially for conferences. She presented recommendations for improving the situation,
including exposing mid-career women to training in technology, and the provision of grants
for young women.
Dr Guo mentioned initiative to support women researchers in China, including a 3-yearincrease in the age limit for project applications, and easier recognition for women at acomparable academic level.
In the discussion, participants were asked to enter responses to several questions via an app.
The questions and representative answers were as follows.
How can we ensure that there are female members of the Board of Directors?
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Improve the number of women at the conference
Nomination process needs to ensure gender diversity
Encourage suitable female candidates to nominate
The AAPPS Working group for Women in Physics should be tasked with making
recommendations to the Board that need to be followed
Nomination process need to consider gender balance.
Several approaches can be be used:o Promote a culture of inclusiono Set diversity goals and targets
o Implement an equal opportunity policy

o Educate and raise awarenesso Mentorship and sponsorship programs
Should there be a link between the Division of Plasma Physics and the AAPPS Working Groupfor Women in Physics?
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Yes
Each division could send a member
Yes - a person could be selected by the Board of Directors, for example (and invitedto report at Board meetings)
The WIP WG should discuss the way to invite the division's WIP.
Yes, it is good to connect with the WIP WG of AAPPS.
Yes, it is good to connect between DPP and WIP WG
Yes

Should there be a DPP prize for women scientists?
• More and more comparable with our percentage• This seems superficial if women aren't winning the 'normal' prizes• Sure; fully support and necessary• Regarding the poster prizes - we need guidelines about the career level and genderbalance of the recipients• Not only do we need guidelines for poster prizes, but we need to be involved inwriting the guidelines• Then there would be only additional competition between women. Highlighting thegender doesn’t help the balance between men and women• Sure, it would encourage female researchers• Yes, it will enhance women leaders, which will inspire the mid-career women.
Should there be formal targets for female invited and plenary speakers?
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Many more
There should be a formal agreed upon percentage of women who are givingtalks and are part of the conference
Reasonable and necessary things to push forward!
Definitely - we should aim for a high target (50%?)
The program committee should consider gender balance more whennominating invited and plenary speakers.
In the field of physics, women have been historically underrepresented, andformal targets can help address this imbalance by encouraging event
organizers to actively seek out and invite qualified female speakers

How can we encourage men to fight with us for gender equity?
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By showing how the problem affects not just women but all people withinsociety and proving the benefits using research
Education about the importance of diversity for successful research groups
Send a survey to all conference attendees
1. Encourage men with conversation 2. Celebrate achievements

Summary:The session was well attended, provocative and enjoyable. Most attendees stayed
until the end and took part in informal discussions.
Based on the presentations, discussions and the responses to the questions, thefollowing points can be emphasised.
1) There should be women on the Board of Directors; the nomination process
should be designed to ensure this.
2) There should be a link between the DPP and the AAPPS Working Group for
Women in Physics; perhaps the Board of Directors can facilitate this3) There should be a formal target for female invited and plenary speakers
4) Organising committees should include female members (at least 20%)5) Men can and should assist to improve the situation for women6) There was no consensus about whether a DPP prize for women researchers
should be instituted; however, women should be encouraged to nominate forexisting awards and selection committees should have at least one female
member.