Panel Discussion of Women Faculty with Disabilities

The panel discussion featured two women faculty with disabilities, Cecilia Aragon from the University of Washington and Cinzia Cervato from Iowa State University.  Both women shared their experiences and engaged in a rich conversation with participants.

What has been your experience as a faculty member with a disability?

• One of the hardest parts starting out as faculty was that you never get to see how other faculty members have struggled in their careers. I acquired my disability after becoming a faculty member. I hid my disability for a long time, spending a lot of time accommodating myself without asking for external support. I finally spoke out so that I can help others and share my story.
• I also acquired my disabilities after I had become a faculty member. I had a brain hemorrhage seven years ago that affected my vision, movement, hearing, speech, and eating. I essentially had to relearn everything and learn how to ask for help.

How can academia be more welcoming to faculty with disabilities?

• Both of us already had tenure when our disabilities occurred. What can we do to make academia more welcoming? Gaining my disability did make me more empathetic and added even more to my diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work. I had never realized how many different types of disabilities there are and how many accessibility barriers there are within academia. 
• Since my disability is visible, many students see me as more accommodating and accepting and are comfortable bringing up their needs. I did have other plans for my career and had to change those, but I now realize I have so many ways to make a difference. I already was the first woman to get tenure in my department--now I can help fight for women from a variety of minorities to find their space in our department.

Do you use official accommodations and what was the process for getting those?

• I don’t have official accommodations, but my department chair is very supportive. When I moved to a new university, I found that it worked differently than my old university. I thought I would be able to get accommodations through a centralized place, but was told I had to pay from my own grants and departmental budget. Departments then have to balance accommodating their faculty and staff with other needs. 
• I was lucky to have a departmental chair who was supportive of paying for my accommodations I needed, which mainly included regular cleaning of my office and providing me space that I needed to eat.
• Men and others can often blow off my accommodations or requests. But I feel like if I’m not advocating for it, then others will also feel like they can’t advocate for their needs.
• How many times can you ask for what you need? A faculty member, or anyone, only has so much social capital to ask for help. Every time a person with a disability has to ask for help, they feel like a burden.
• Things are often just focused on risk management and budget control--this can make people with disabilities feel like a burden. We want an institution that is inclusive and welcoming.
• Draft people of good will among your colleagues. People think they shouldn’t speak up because they don’t want to patronize others; however, people who speak up can also be taking some of the burden off of people with disabilities to advocate for their own rights.
• We often talk about women, people of color and different races, but disability is often sidelined in conversations about DEI. We need to increase awareness.

How can departments and campuses learn to be more inclusive?

• There should be more critical disabilities studies and disability cultural centers on campus that help promote messages of inclusion across campus. 
• Seeing and hearing more stories from students with disabilities and from other backgrounds help create empathy and understanding among faculty and staff, as well as highlight why we need more diversity and inclusion.