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I am writing about some crazy hypothesis I have about the impact the quest for the Higgs Boson, thereafter designated as HB, might have had on the number of people who declared physics majors during the years following its discovery. The preliminary data I have concerns two universities in my home country indicate that new enrolees in physics undergraduate programs (I do not expect the HB to have any effect on graduate enrollment because enrollment in graduate physics programs depends more on professors' research grants) have increased in the HB era, when compared to the pre-HB era. Here are the (admittedly fragmentary) data sets for the two schools for which I have some data:
Laval University:
Entering fall 2011 class size (last entering class of the pre-HB era): 22
Entering fall 2012 class size (first entering class of the HB era): 25
Entering fall 2013 class size: 34
University of Montreal (all physics streams):
Entering fall 2011 class size: 91
Entering fall 2012 class size: 162
Entering fall 2013 class size: 134
Because of the fragmentary data, I cannot draw conclusions with any degree of confidence. However, I do not expect the HB-era classes to experience more or less attrition than in the pre-HB era, because the Higgs Boson has little, if any, effect on what drives attrition away from physics. So do any of you guys have information about physics undergraduate enrollments for each academic year at any school for which you have data, during, say, the last 3-5 years?
If the quest for the Higgs Boson had any real effect on how many people declared physics majors, I expect it to act as follows on a student: the student realizes, through the media coverage of the Higgs Boson, that physics might become a viable educational path, and that the student gains an interest in that field as a result, finally resulting in that student enrolling in a physics degree program as an undergraduate, be it on the application or while enrolled, depending on the university. Because the media coverage of the quest for the Higgs Boson was worldwide, I would personally expect schools outside Quebec to have experienced an increase in physics undergraduate enrollments as well.
What do you think?
Laval University:
Entering fall 2011 class size (last entering class of the pre-HB era): 22
Entering fall 2012 class size (first entering class of the HB era): 25
Entering fall 2013 class size: 34
University of Montreal (all physics streams):
Entering fall 2011 class size: 91
Entering fall 2012 class size: 162
Entering fall 2013 class size: 134
Because of the fragmentary data, I cannot draw conclusions with any degree of confidence. However, I do not expect the HB-era classes to experience more or less attrition than in the pre-HB era, because the Higgs Boson has little, if any, effect on what drives attrition away from physics. So do any of you guys have information about physics undergraduate enrollments for each academic year at any school for which you have data, during, say, the last 3-5 years?
If the quest for the Higgs Boson had any real effect on how many people declared physics majors, I expect it to act as follows on a student: the student realizes, through the media coverage of the Higgs Boson, that physics might become a viable educational path, and that the student gains an interest in that field as a result, finally resulting in that student enrolling in a physics degree program as an undergraduate, be it on the application or while enrolled, depending on the university. Because the media coverage of the quest for the Higgs Boson was worldwide, I would personally expect schools outside Quebec to have experienced an increase in physics undergraduate enrollments as well.
What do you think?