Reports from Discussion Groups

Following are responses of participants to questions presented in small-group discussions.

Question 1

How are STEM access issues for people with disabilities the same as those for other underrepresented groups (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, women)? How are they different?

Access issues faced by students with disabilities that are similar for other underrepresented groups include the following:

Photo of student holding out a sample box.

All underrepresented groups, including people with disabilities, are subjected to biases and negative attitudes that may block access.
All underrepresented groups may encounter barriers caused by a lack of understanding of what they need.
Lumping all underrepresented groups together under the term "diversity" can mask individual needs/issues.
Many people have a need/desire for a community with which to identify.
Members of underrepresented groups are often underprepared, especially in math and science.
Changes made to accommodate one underrepresented group may help other groups.
There are multiple subcultures within each group, but attempts at change often target the big umbrella group and not the unique subgroups.
Many members of underrepresented groups lack mentors and role models with whom to identify.
They experience feelings of isolation-a sense of being "the only one."
Students may lack social supports.
Some assume lowered standards are necessary to accommodate underrepresented groups.
There are lower expectations in school.
Group members often lack confidence that they can compete in STEM fields.
Students from underrepresented groups (especially low income) are often not prepared and are not encouraged to become prepared to succeed in college and STEM.
Many lack self-advocacy skills.
There may be a glass ceiling in employment for members of these groups.
Language and communication challenges can create problems for individual members of many different groups, including English-language learners and/or students who are deaf.

Access issues that are unique for students with disabilities include the following:

The traditional diversity definition often only encompasses race, gender, class, ethnicity, and culture; disability is frequently excluded, and people with disabilities don't see themselves represented in this definition.
Diversity offices and efforts frequently do not include or are unprepared to work with students with disabilities.
Cultural pressure may prevent some students with disabilities from disclosing their disabilities and receiving help.
Disabilities often need to be diagnosed, unlike other minority status.
There are sometimes negative reactions from teachers and peers to accommodations, especially those for invisible disabilities such as learning disabilities.
Students with disabilities have to request accommodations and provide documentation of their disabilities prior to receiving services.
The pressure to represent your race/culture/gender well also exists for some people with disabilities—having a disability is sometimes considered being part of a special culture group.
People with disabilities are often scrutinized for needing major physical and facility changes, whereas the other groups are perceived as just needing early preparation.
Overall, physical access is a much greater problem for people with disabilities than for other minority groups.
The nature of discrimination against people with disabilities is more open; it is still "socially acceptable" to say that students with disabilities can't participate in STEM.
Students with invisible disabilities must decide when and how to disclose.
There may be more earmarked funds for students with disabilities than for other underrepresented groups.
Teachers may be enablers by doing too much for students with disabilities, demanding too little, and/or setting expectations too low.
Inaccessible curriculum, materials, and facilities can create barriers for students with disabilities.
People with disabilities who are of a Caucasian background have had a long history of Caucasian role models who are of the same race and gender in STEM fields.

Summary of Access Issues

Participants in the AccessSTEM CBI found that most access issues for people with disabilities are similar to those for other underrepresented groups. The following is a list of barriers to STEM studies and careers for all of these groups.

Biases and negative attitudes affect all groups.
There is a lack of understanding of their needs.
Lumping groups together under the term "diversity" can mask individual needs/issues.
Attempts at change often target the big umbrella groups and not unique subgroups.
Some are underprepared and discouraged to pursue STEM.
Some feel isolated and lack social supports.
Some lack confidence that they can compete in STEM fields.
Some have inadequate self-advocacy skills.
Some lack mentors or role models with whom to identify.
There are language and communication challenges.
There is a glass ceiling in employment.

Issues unique to individuals with disabilities pursuing STEM include those listed below.

The traditional definition of diversity often only encompasses race, gender, class, ethnicity, and culture; students with disabilities are not represented in this definition.
Diversity offices and efforts frequently do not include work with students who have disabilities.
Cultural pressure may prevent some students with disabilities from disclosing their disabilities and receiving help.
Disabilities often need to be diagnosed, unlike other minority status.
Students with disabilities must decide when and how to disclose.
They have to request accommodations and provide documentation of their disabilities prior to receiving accommodation services.
It is more "socially acceptable" to say that students with disabilities can't participate in STEM.
There may be more earmarked funds for students with disabilities to cover accommodations.
Teachers may do too much for students with disabilities, not demand enough, and/or set expectations too low.
Curriculum, materials, and facilities may be inaccessible to students with disabilities.

Question 2

In what ways do making STEM activities accessible to students with disabilities benefit other students?

Photo of student in a wheelchair working on an engineering project

Reaching out in multiple ways allows you to recruit a more eclectic group.
More diversity results in more creative and diverse ideas and solutions.
Bringing people with disabilities into the classroom educates all students and faculty about the capabilities of people with disabilities.
A mix of students helps students without disabilities find their own career paths as they are challenged in new ways and given opportunities to assist others.
Fully including students with disabilities in classes helps students without disabilities be more sensitive to issues faced by people with disabilities.
Group work makes students and instructors take the time to consider things you would typically take for granted (What if you couldn't hear/see/move?).
There are opportunities for leadership for all students, even those who don't traditionally volunteer for such roles.
Teaching using multiple modalities benefits all learners.
Universal design strategies create materials that can be easily adapted and distributed in multiple formats in a timely manner.
Making courses accessible to students with disabilities helps instructors become more organized, thoughtful, systematic-better teachers!
It encourages instructors to ask questions about what "good instructors" do to help students learn.
It reminds us that teaching is about people first.
Providing clear instructions and more time to complete activities benefits all students.
When instructors spend time thinking about accommodations, it can help them reshape and clarify the goals of the course: What are they trying to teach? What concepts or skills do they want the students to leave with? What alternatives are available to students for gaining knowledge and skills?
Other students are encouraged to discern the strength of each member that can make the collective group stronger.
Some technology and facility changes allow everyone to maximize productivity (e.g., a work table at an adjustable height, a spectrometer that can provide data about color without the student actually needing to see color).
Everyone brings life experiences to draw on for problem-solving. When students with disabilities do this, they enhance learning for everyone.
Sometimes assistive technology drives positive changes in mainstream technology.
Accommodations and universal design help the professor teach the material more effectively to all students.
Universal design brings about different/new teaching modalities and materials for an instructor to consider.
Efforts to fully include students with disabilities result in a paradigm shift in education and bring all our thinking to a new level.
Putting a syllabus and other important information online increases accessibility to all students, making it possible for them to easily review.
Making facilities accessible architecturally (seating, etc.) helps all students access the learning environment more comfortably.
Universally designed office hours, by offering hours physically within the office plus online to increase accessibility, benefits all students.

Summary of Benefits to Other Students

The following points were made by CBI participants regarding how including individuals with disabilities in STEM activities benefits all students:

More diversity results in more creative and diverse ideas and solutions.
Having students with disabilities in class encourages instructors to become better teachers and take time to consider things they might typically take for granted.
Using multiple modalities in teaching makes content more accessible to everyone.
Providing clear instructions and more time to complete activities benefits everyone.
Some technology and facility changes allow everyone to be more productive.
Sometimes assistive technology drives positive changes in mainstream technology.
Posting syllabi and other important information online increases accessibility and adaptability for all students.

Question 3

What can STEM projects do to increase the participation of students with disabilities.

Increase the visibility of researchers with disabilities at disciplinary meetings.
Increase the visibility of students with disabilities as role models.
Increase the visibility of scientists and engineers with disabilities through marketing materials, web pages, curricula, seminars, etc.
Make an effort to recruit STEM faculty with disabilities.
Use institutional networks to find and place new faculty who have disabilities.
Educate search committees (e.g., for faculty) about recruiting and accommodating applicants with disabilities, and include people with disabilities on search committees.
Connect with staff at disability services offices to provide opportunities and information for students. Collaborate on ideas for resources and accommodations students with disabilities in STEM may need.
In program materials, websites, applications, etc., encourage people with disabilities to apply and include information about procedures for requesting accommodations.
Have your provost/dean chair your annual meeting or key activities to help ensure more people will attend.
Tap into existing mentor networks. For example, the vice chancellor at UC Irvine has a group called "100 Black Men of Orange County" that connects African-American students to community leaders.
Involve parents in recruiting minority students-taking a child who brings income into the household off to college can be challenging for the family.
Reevaluate admissions standards and look at work history, special challenges, and community involvement in addition to GPA.
Have student ambassadors go to high schools and talk to students about socially relevant issues related to STEM fields; they should go to English, history, and social studies classes in addition to science and math classes.
Make an effort to reach students where they are at. In some minority communities, for example, image is incredibly important, so bring in role models that dress and look "cool" to recruit kids so STEM doesn't look so "geeky" and "uncool."
The people you use to recruit students with disabilities need to make sure they use person-first language and have had some positive experiences on campus.
Often students don't want to be part of the programs targeted at underrepresented groups, so you have to be savvy in recruiting them. You need to connect to shared experiences like "the black first" and "take back the night." People with disabilities need to have a shared experience to create a pipeline and path for recruitment.
Make social gatherings easy to come to, "cool," and focused on common interests.

Summary of Strategies to Increase Participation of Students with Disabilities

CBI participants suggested the following strategies for fully including students with disabilities in their STEM projects:

Increase the visibility of scientists, engineers, researchers, and students with disabilities in meetings, in marketing materials, on web pages, etc.
Recruit STEM faculty with disabilities.
Connect with staff at disability services offices.
In program materials, include information about procedures for requesting accommodations.
Reach students where they are at, with people they can relate to, and in a style that is respectful and engaging.
Have your provost/dean endorse and/or participate in key activities to help ensure more people will attend.
Locate mentors for students with disabilities. Involve parents in recruiting efforts.
In admissions standards consider special challenges and community involvement in addition to GPA.
Have student ambassadors go to high schools and talk to STEM and non-STEM classes about socially relevant issues related to STEM fields.
Make social gatherings easy to come to, "cool," and focused on common interests.

Question 4

How can projects best measure the outcomes and impacts of their interventions to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities, women, and people with disabilities in STEM?

Include control groups in the design of research projects whenever possible.
Collect data on undergraduate degree completion and enrollment for students in all underrepresented groups. Collect graduation numbers for students with disabilities; the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) can help with this—they've been successful in similar work regarding other underrepresented groups.
Evaluate retention rates.
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMPs) provide a good model in collecting participant data that includes disability status; projects could cooperate to convince LSAMPs to begin disclosing data for annual tracking.
NSF could provide additional funding for data collection.
Find ways to collect outcomes/data beyond self-report (e.g., more than "students indicate that..."); this is more expensive and more involved and will need to involve formal external evaluation of programs that can collect data to show productivity.
An NSF-funded external evaluator could be funded to monitor a data collection system for RDE projects, as is done with LSAMPs and Alliances for Graduate Education in the Professoriate (AGEPs) already.

Summary of How Projects Can Measure Outcomes

CBI participants suggested the following ways to measure the increase of minorities, women, and people with disabilities in STEM:

Include control groups in research projects.
Institutions could collect data on undergraduate degree pursuit and completion for all underrepresented groups. Projects could evaluate enrollment, retention, and graduation rates.
All NSF-funded programs to broaden participation in STEM could cooperate in collecting data.
Secure additional funding for data collection.