AccessSTEM

What are strategies for recruiting students with disabilities to STEM fields?

The Midwest Alliance was funded by the National Science Foundation to increase the number of individuals with disabilities successfully pursuing academic studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Alliance staff recruited students with disabilities into STEM fields in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Through their efforts, they identified several effective methods for recruiting students. They include:

What affects the self-efficacy of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM fields?

A study conducted by KC-BANCS Alliance, an NSF-funded alliance to increase the number of individuals with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), looked at the perceptions of self-efficacy of students with disabilities in STEM fields. They found that successes in STEM classes and having opportunities to apply what they’d learned had positive effects on students’ overall sense of self-efficacy.

WebD2: A Promising Practice in Integrating Accessibility Topics into Curriculum

Course curricula can be enriched by integrating accessibility for people with disabilities as a topic for discussion and application. Students whose education includes an opportunity to learn about accessibility may be more likely to practice accessible design techniques and implement universal design in their future careers.

Student Learning Communities: A Promising Practice to Recruit STEM Students with Disabilities

Student learning communities (SLCs) are a collection of activities organized by common goals that a group of students complete together. One major postsecondary Midwestern institution has been using SLCs as a tool to recruit students with disabilities to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. They have developed two levels of SLCs for use with high school and college students:

Serving Veterans Think Tank: A Promising Practice in Improving Civilian Career Outcomes for Veterans with Disabilities

The Think Tank: Serving Veterans with Disabilities was hosted on March 26, 2008 by the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center at the University of Washington in Seattle as part of The Alliance for Students with Disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (AccessSTEM) project.

Robotics Track at Youth Slam: A Promising Practice in Engaging Students with Visual Impairments

Dr. Stephanie Ludi, software engineering professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is working to increase the participation of people with visual impairments in computing fields. The Robotics Track, part of the 2009 National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam summer camp, is designed for high school students who have visual impairments and would like to learn more about computing.

Purdue University: A Promising Practice in Building Campus-wide Support for Web Accessibility

Administrators at Purdue University look for ways to raise awareness of web accessibility issues and to educate employees on how to create websites that are accessible to individuals with a broad range of disabilities. They have focused efforts through a campus-wide Web Accessibility Committee (WAC). WAC members represent both academic and administrative units across campus. Most are web developers and all are strong supporters of accessible web design. WAC members have:

How can I make a design studio class more accessible to students with disabilities?

There are two approaches for making academic activities accessible to students with disabilities—accommodations and universal design. An accommodation makes adjustments for a specific student with a disability, such as providing assistive technology or materials in alternate formats. The goal of universal design is to create products and environments that are usable by everyone (including people with disabilities), to the greatest extent possible, minimizing the need for accommodations for individuals in the future.

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