Institute of Physics: Our membership

Who do you think of when you think “physicist”?

What does a physicist look like?

Institute of Physics: Our membership

The Institute of Physics (IOP) has collected data about our membership and governance to understand the profile of our members and gain some insights into who they are – diverse people with different ages, ethnicities, beliefs and much more. This helps to determine our priorities for action, to continue our work to ensure equality of opportunity for everyone involved with physics.

Our membership survey

Our membership and governance

Our staff

Our strategic priorities for diversity and inclusion

We undertook an anonymous survey of our UK and Ireland membership in July 2015, which has provided valuable information that will help us to continue our commitment to make our services accessible to all, and to implement policies and practices that are fair, inclusive and effective. It enables us to work towards our aim of being a fully inclusive organisation, where all staff and members are valued, and to ensure that all members, and potential members, can participate fully in our activities.

This was the second time we had conducted this survey, following the first in 2011. The demographic range of the responses to the survey were comparable to the 2011 results. Around 13% of the membership responded. We will repeat the survey in 2019. All respondents were given the option of “prefer not to say” on all questions, but relatively few people selected this.

The Institute’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee monitors and reviews diversity in our membership and governance activities to help determine our priorities for action. We have set out our most up-to-date data and information.

We have included data on our staff profile.

In line with the Institute’s strategy, we have developed strategic priorities for the Diversity and Inclusion Programme. These are:

• Championing diversity and inclusion across the STEM community

• Building capacity on diversity and inclusion within the Institute’s activities and governance

• Promoting wider participation in physics education and careers at all levels from under-represented groups

• Ensuring we have an inclusive working environment where all staff respect and value each other

For more information, visit iop.org/diversity

Institute of Physics: Our membership

16–19

Student member

Affiliate

Associate member

Member

Fellow/hon. fellow

17.2%

19.5%

2.2%

10.4%

10.4%

37.4%

Overall %

Women Men Male 69.9%Other 1.4%

Female 28.0%

Asian

Black

Mixed/multiple ethnic

Other ethnic backgrounds

White British

White Irish

White other

5%

4.6%

9.8%

8.1%

1%

88.8%

76.1%

2.6%

1.2%

Total BME groups

Total white (British/Irish/other)

15–19 years

20–29 years

30–39 years

40–49 years

50–59 years

60–69 years

70–79 years

80+ years

22.3%

21.9%

11.9%

10.2%

11.2%

8.5%

3.2%

10.3%

Our survey respondents Gender

Ethnicity

Age

Who responded?

There was greater gender diversity

in the responses from the student, affiliate and associate membership categories, which reflects our membership profile.

The responses mirror the age profile of our membership.

9.8% associate members

20.5% 16–19

members

3.5%fellow/honorary

fellow

The most ethnically diverse membership category was 16–19 membership (20.5%) and the least was

fellow/honorary fellow (3.5%).

Membership of the IOP is open to everyone with an interest in physics.

iop.org/membership

More than half of

our respondents reported that one of their parents had a first degree or higher.

Mental-health condition

Health condition

Specific learning difficulty

Mobility impaired

Deaf/hearing impaired

Asperger’s/ASD

Blind/visually impaired

Multiple

Other

18.3%

17.7%

12%

8.7%

5.2%

7.8%

2.6%

14.2%

17.7%

38.7%

21.6%

0.7%

28.5%

0.7%

1.09%

0.3%

3.2%

0.9%

None

Atheist

Buddhist

Christian

Hindu

Jewish

Muslim

Sikh

Other

Bisexual 5.2%Gay woman 0.9%

Gay man 3.4%

Hetersosexual 83.5% Other 2.5%

No qualifications 11.2%

Undergraduate degree 25%Any postgraduate qualification 27.7%

School-level qualifications 29.2%

Disability

Religion /belief Sexual orientation

Socio-economic background*

*Highest level of parental qualification was used as a proxy measure.

9%

of respondents declared a disability

16%

of females had caring

responsibilities

13% of males

had caring responsibilities

18%

of those declared a mental-health

condition

14%declared multiple

disabilities

Institute of Physics: Our membership

Members with caring responsibilities

Health condition includes long-term conditions such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease or epilepsy.

Specific learning difficulty includes dyslexia, dyspraxia or AD(H)D.

The IOP carers’ fund is available to help members with caring responsibilities to attend physics-related meetings, events or conferences that they might not otherwise be able to go to.

For more information, contact carersfund@iop.org.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

enta

ge m

ale

and

fem

ale

MEM(n = 10,669)

HFEL(n = 33)

FEL(n = 2,283)

ASC(n = 3,667)

AFPW(n = 9,441)

STU(n = 15,635)

CENG(n = 716)

CPhys(n = 7,842)

15.2%6.9%

25.3%30.2%

23.4%

86% 84.8%91.3%

74.7%69.8%

76.6%

6%10.4%

94%89.6%

14%

Women Men

Our membership

Institute of Physics: Our membership

Our membershipHere is our most up-to-date data on different aspects of our IOP membership, governance, special-interest groups and awards.

Categories of membership• Affiliate membership (AFPW)

For anyone with an interest in, but no formal background in, physics, who wants to support the Institute’s objectives, and have access to member benefits. This includes the 16–19 age group

• Students (STU) Undergraduate students

• Associate membership (ASC) For those who have recently obtained a first degree in the physical sciences or engineering, or its equivalent

• Member (MEM) For those with at least three years’ post-degree experience during which professional skills have been acquired

• Fellow (FEL) Indicates a very high level of achievement in physics and an outstanding contribution to the profession

• Honorary fellow (HFEL) Conferred by the Institute for exceptional service to physics or to someone whose relationship with the Institute has been of tremendous benefit

• Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Chartered Physicist (CPhys) Chartered status is the aspiration of members engaged at the leading edge of all fields of physics and its applications

Our nations and branches Our groups

14 IOP

branches

49 special-interest

groups

2 female

branch chairs

10 female chairs

7 have no female

committee members

19%average female membership

The IOP has around 50 special-interest groups that members can join as a benefit of membership, covering a wide range of physics subjects. The IOP also operates locally through a network of member-led branches and national/regional officers. Both networks provide an opportunity for members to be involved in Institute activities, attend conferences and meet socially.

Institute of Physics: Our organisation

Women Men

Council (n = 18)

Senior officers (n = 8)

Resources (n = 6)

Audit and risk (n = 8)

Remuneration (n = 6)

Nominations (n = 10)

Awards (n = 14)

Honorary fellows (n = 11)

Membership (n = 12)

Science and innovation (n = 10)

Education (n = 19)

Diversity and inclusion (n = 8)

21.6%

28.5%

39% 61%

83%

75%

83%

50%

57%

64%

67%

70%

53%

12%

63%37%

17%

25%

17%

50%

43%

36%

33%

30%

47%

88%

Proportion of males and females on IOP Council and committees 2015 to 2016

Our committees

129committee positions

75individuals

34filled by women

(44%)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

enta

ge m

ale

and

fem

ale

Coun

cil m

embe

rs

2011/2012

2012/2013

2013/2014

2014/2015

2015/2016

Corporatemembership*

2015

33%

19%

32%39%

12%

74%67%

81%

68%61%

88%

26%

Women Men

Our Council

18 Council

members

7 female

members

57average

age

* Corporate members are those IOP members that would be eligible to be nominated for Council.

Council consists of 18 members elected from, and by, the corporate membership, and up to three co-opted members appointed by Council itself. As the board of trustees, Council has ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of the Institute, and ensuring that it is solvent, well run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been set up. Council meets four times a year.

Council has a number of standing committees with delegated powers. Committee membership is not limited to Council members, allowing for representation from the membership.

In carrying out their work, Council and its committees will take into account the Institute’s vision for diversity and inclusion, working towards an inclusive, sustainable, diverse and vibrant physics community, and enabling all members to participate fully in our activities.

Council membership 2011 to 2016

Our awards

Our staff

Our honorary fellows

Females awarded scholarships

11% female

nominations

48% male

24% female award

winners

0 gold award nominations for females*

52% female

0

2

6

8

10

12

Actu

al n

umbe

r con

ferre

d

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Women Men

Under 25 years

25–29 years

30–39 years

40–49 years

50–59 years

60+ years

Unknown

2%

12.8%

27.7%

18.9%

20.3%

17.6%

11.9%

10.2%

11.2%

0.7%

10.3%

* Between 2010 and 2015.

Institute of Physics: Our organisation

Scholarship applicants

Our teacher scholarships

2013/2014

2012/2013

0 20 40 60 80 100

Women Men Unknown

26%

28% 69%

67%

34 out of 97

in 2012/2013

39 out of 144

in 2013/2014

Percentage of teacher-scholarship applicants

The IOP awards portfolio spans all areas of physics, as well as contributions made to physics outreach, education and the application of physics-based technologies.

iop.org/awards

The IOP awards up to 150 teacher-training scholarships each year, in partnership with the Department for Education. The scholarships of £30,000 are awarded to talented individuals entering physics teacher training in England.

iop.org/scholarships

Institute of Physics: Our membership

What does a physicist look like?

Institute of Physics76 Portland Place, London W1B 1NTTel +44 (0)20 7470 4800Fax +44 (0)20 7470 4848www.iop.org

March 2016

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