Women continue to be underrepresented in physics in the United States. This is while many Muslim majority (MM) countries have a high representation of women in undergraduate and graduate physics programs. While there is a growing awareness of this trend, little is being done to understand why and how this trend has manifested and how it can be used to inform broadening the participation of women in physics in the U.S. To better understand how cultural experiences can influence the pursuit of physics, this study examines the lived experiences of female physics faculty members in the U.S. who came from MM countries. The study draws on seven phenomenological interviews focusing on how cultural experiences shaped participants’ gender and physics identities. The results reveal several possible hypotheses on differences and similarities in how physics and gender identities intersect in MM countries as opposed to what has been found in the West. In particular, expressions of femininity in MM countries can have a more constructive intersection with expressions of physics identity in ways that promote participation and persistence.

中文翻译：

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文化对女物理学家职业选择的影响：穆斯林多数国家和西方国家的比较

在美国，女性在物理领域的代表性仍然不足。与此相反，许多穆斯林多数（MM）国家在大学本科和研究生物理课程中女性的比例很高。尽管人们对这一趋势的认识不断提高，但几乎没有人了解这一趋势的原因和表现方式，以及如何利用它来扩大美国妇女对物理学的参与，从而更好地了解文化经验如何影响这一趋势。为了追求物理学，本研究考察了来自MM国家的美国女性物理教师的生活经历。该研究借鉴了七项现象学访谈，重点是文化体验如何塑造参与者的性别和物理特性。研究结果揭示了几种可能的假设，即与西方国家相比，MM国家在物理和性别认同如何相交方面的差异和相似性。尤其是，MM国家中的女性气质表达方式可以与物理特性的表达方式进行更富有建设性的交汇，从而促进参与度和持久性。