12944 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. Brianna Blaser
  2. Associate Director
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. University of Washington
  1. Cecilia Aragon
  2. http://CeciliaAragonAuthor.com/
  3. Professor
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. University of Washington
  1. Canan Bilen-Green
  2. https://www.ndsu.edu/facultyaffairs/contact/
  3. Vice Provost
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. North Dakota State University
  1. Sheryl Burgstahler
  2. https://sites.uw.edu/sherylb/
  3. Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. University of Washington
Presenters’
Choice

AccessADVANCE

NSF Awards: 2017017, 2017054

2021 (see original presentation & discussion)

Adult learners

Women with disabilities in STEM faculty careers are often invisible - many do not disclose their disabilities and their disabilities are not obvious to others. Their experiences have not been studied significantly. Even though there appears to be relatively few females who currently hold faculty positions, more female students with disabilities are finishing up Ph.D. programs. In addition, any faculty member may at some point in their careers become disabled, permanently or temporarily. To create truly inclusive and equitable academic workplaces, it is imperative to systematically identify and address issues impacting the career advancement and success of female faculty with disabilities. AccessADVANCE, a partnership between the University of Washington and North Dakota State University, takes an intersectional approach to increase the participation and advancement of individuals who identify as women with disabilities in academic STEM careers. This video profiles women faculty members with disabilities sharing their experiences and perspectives that may be helpful for other women faculty members with disabilities and for academic departments and institutions that want to improve their practices with respect to fully including this marginalized group. We invite you to learn from the experiences of people featured in the video as well as reflect on ways that departments and institutions can support these women.

 
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Discussion from the 2021 STEM For All Video Showcase (38 posts)
  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 10, 2021 | 01:23 p.m.

    AccessADVANCE aims to increase the participation and advancement of individuals who identify as women with disabilities in academic science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. We are interested in strategies to increase the recruitment and retention of women STEM faculty with disabilities as well as ways that we can institutionalize flexibility that was gained during the pandemic as we prepare for a post-pandemic world.

    If you are interested in engaging with us further, 

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 10, 2021 | 01:38 p.m.

    Are you aware of challenges women with disabilities might face in pursuing STEM academic careers on your campus? We would love to have your input.

  • Icon for: Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Facilitator
    Research Scientist
    May 11, 2021 | 09:57 a.m.

    I really enjoyed seeing first-hand experiences in your video. That made the video particularly powerful.

    Invisible disabilities are particularly challenging for people to understand, so I am interested in hearing more about participants' experiences with the project and how it's impacted their careers. 

    Thanks for your work! So necessary. 

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Janelle Johnson
    Chelsea LeNoble
  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 11, 2021 | 02:46 p.m.

    You're absolutely right about invisible disabilities. We know that a large proportion of disabilities are invisible and these are often the hardest disabilities for employers and colleagues to understand.

    Our work is just starting - in future years, we'll be able to share information about how our work has impacted women!

  • Icon for: Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Facilitator
    Research Scientist
    May 13, 2021 | 10:00 p.m.

    I see that the project is looking for systemic change, which is quite a hard nut to crack. Do you have examples of the things that you hope to see by the end of the project? 

    Also, I am intrigued by the use of universal design for the project. Can you give examples of how you are using universal design for systemic change?

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 14, 2021 | 10:54 a.m.

    We have collected input from female faculty members in STEM to hear their stories and suggestions and continue conversations within our leadership team and community of practice. We have drafted a document that shares some of the issues female faculty members in STEM fields have presented and proposed improvements to departmental policies and practices that might lead to systemic change. Some things that are sure to end up in the publication are making sure that the application/interview procedures for faculty positions are accessible to applicants with disabilities and that candidates are told how to request accommodations in the interview process; ensuring that faculty members know where and how to request assistive technology and other accommodations for their research, teaching, service and other aspects of their work; and addressing issues related to overall departmental culture. We encourage input from all stakeholder groups!

  • Icon for: Marcia Gumpertz

    Marcia Gumpertz

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 10:33 a.m.

    This is a fantastic project! Things are changing, but it is still hard for people with invisible disabilities to disclose their disability and let anyone know that they need anything. Also, university disability services offices often are equipped really to serve students and may not have much to offer faculty.

     
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    Janelle Johnson
  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 11, 2021 | 02:49 p.m.

    I find it interesting that the models for disability services differ from one university to the other.  At some, it's all one office; at others, there's one for students and employees.  At some universities, graduate students have to work with both offices because they are both a student and an RA/TA.  The time spent navigating these systems can be lengthy.  And, as you point out, it's important for these offices to understand the needs of the different populations that they are working with.  

  • Icon for: Stephen Alkins

    Stephen Alkins

    Facilitator
    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
    May 11, 2021 | 11:45 a.m.

    Thank you each for your stories and contributions to your respective fields.  It is interesting that more students with disabilities, and more female students more specifically, have been pursuing Ph.D. programming, which suggests that student engagement is improving, however, has the national academy provided any guidelines for transition support to the faculty level or retention practices for STEM departments? 

    I'd also be curious how the intersection of your other identities has also affected (improved or hindered) your experiences as a faculty.  Even in disability services there can be bias across other identities (veteran status, race, ethnicity, etc.).

     
    2
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Janelle Johnson
    Chelsea LeNoble
  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 11, 2021 | 03:10 p.m.

    So far, there hasn't been a lot of work done specifically related to faculty with disabilities.  We have been collecting resources we find on our AccessADVANCE website. (And welcome suggestions if folks know of things we're missing!).

    As we have more conversations about accessibility and STEM, it's important to take an intersectional lens. At the student level, for example, there is research that shows students from a higher SES are more likely to receive accommodations for learning disabilities. For a book chapter that we wrote ("Perspectives of women with disabilities in computing" in Cracking the digital ceiling: Women in computing around the world) many women said they felt their disabilities had had a larger impact on their careers than their gender because of issues around inaccessibility. 

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Chelsea LeNoble
  • Icon for: Chelsea LeNoble

    Chelsea LeNoble

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 03:34 p.m.

    Just like Nuria commented, I also love the way this video invites women with disabilities to share their experiences. Your website also offers fantastic resources for providing more support to women with disabilities in academia. Thank you so much for this important work.

    One thing I'm curious about is whether you've considered showing departments how to identify common forms of ableism that they might not realize are operating in the work environment. Perhaps forms of support might be even more effective if ableist practices are simultaneously addressed? I imagine that many of the barriers to disabled women in academia are things that abled folks have not realized exist. Might there be any low-hanging fruit in terms of changes or quick fixes that can be made to reduce ableist practices in academic settings? For instance, I'm thinking of the trend in online learning where instructors are encouraged to post video or audio feedback in lieu of written feedback on student assignments. I imagine the challenges this poses to those with disabilities is not fully (if at all) considered.  

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Janelle Johnson
  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 12, 2021 | 02:06 p.m.

    Thanks, Chelsea.  We love to help identify low hanging fruit to make small changes that can have significant impact.  We don't have a final draft yet of a document specifically addressing accessibility for faculty with disabilities, but that is something we are working on. A couple related resources we do have are Accessibility and Universal Design of Online Meetings and Equal Access: Universal Design of Engineering Departments.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Chelsea LeNoble
  • Icon for: Overtoun Jenda

    Overtoun Jenda

    Facilitator
    Assistant Provost and Professor of Mathematics
    May 11, 2021 | 08:40 p.m.

    Thank you so much Team for doing this. Excellent work as usual. Is there a site that highlights the research work that they do? Do we have a mechanism whereby  we can have them mentor our junior faculty and students with disabilities in STEM nationwide?

  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 12, 2021 | 02:02 p.m.

    Hi, Overtoun.  Most of our work in this project is focused on institutional transformation rather than direct interventions.  As in a lot of work, we like to highlight the experiences of people with disabilities in order to build understanding of the accessibility issues involved.  A mentoring system like you describe would be great for future work.

  • Icon for: Bianca Alvarado

    Bianca Alvarado

    Program Director
    May 12, 2021 | 10:38 a.m.

    Opening the space to have conversations around women with disabilities will allow people to be seen and heard especially when there are services, products, and programs designed for those needs that most of the time serve the general public also. 

    I invite you to provide feedback to our video: https://stemforall2021.videohall.com/presentati...

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 12, 2021 | 11:03 a.m.

    Absolutely! 

  • Icon for: Lindsay Palmer

    Lindsay Palmer

    Graduate Student
    May 12, 2021 | 07:07 p.m.

    I love this video and feel seen by this work! I was wondering if you are familiar or follow any feminist work in Crip Theory? I'd love to learn more about your theoretical approach and perspective. Thank you all for elevating the voices of women with disabilities in STEM! 

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Stacey Sexton
  • Icon for: Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Facilitator
    Research Scientist
    May 13, 2021 | 08:49 a.m.

    This sounds really interesting. I would love to learn more about the intersection about Crip Theory and feminism. Are there any references you can share with us? 

  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 13, 2021 | 01:27 p.m.

    Although I haven't read deeply in crip theory, it is something I would like to explore more of.  Our work is based on the social model of disability and universal design.  Over the years in our other work, we have found that there is very little conversation about disability in conversations related to broadening participation in STEM and even just starting with very basic information raising awareness about the experiences of people with disabilities, accessibility, accommodations, and universal design can go a long way in creating change.

  • Icon for: Lindsay Palmer

    Lindsay Palmer

    Graduate Student
    May 14, 2021 | 02:15 p.m.

    I believe that this work aligns well with Crip Theory! I would check out Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's work Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept (see reference below) as I think that would be a great place to start give your approach. Other great feminist crip theorists are Alison Kafer, Margaret Price, and Melanie Yergeau. I think your work is really thoughtful and I have enjoyed learning about it! 

     

    GARLAND‐THOMSON, R. (2011), Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept. Hypatia, 26: 591-609. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2011.01206.x

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Stacey Sexton
  • Icon for: Janelle Johnson

    Janelle Johnson

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 13, 2021 | 01:59 p.m.

    This is wonderful work. My work is focused in the K-16 world, and I hope you all will be able to illuminate some of the pathways for folks with diverse abilities to successfully get to higher education. There are many systemic changes that need to happen at every point along the way.

  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 13, 2021 | 05:27 p.m.

    You're absolutely right about the changes that need to happen along the way.  On other projects, we've focused on students and the transition to careers.  You can find related projects and resources on the DO-IT website.  This project is new ground in working specifically at faculty careers.  

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Janelle Johnson
  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 13, 2021 | 02:00 p.m.

    We are using universal design as a framework for proactive and inclusive design, but consulting research in women's studies and disability studies as well.

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 13, 2021 | 02:41 p.m.

    Absolutely!

  • Lisette Torres-Gerald

    Researcher
    May 13, 2021 | 03:22 p.m.

    I recommend Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer. I would also check out the work and activism of Sami Schalk, Sins Invalid, and Mia Mingus.

     
    3
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Stacey Sexton
    Janelle Johnson
    Brianna Blaser
  • Lisette Torres-Gerald

    Researcher
    May 13, 2021 | 03:22 p.m.

    I recommend Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer. I would also check out the work and activism of Sami Schalk, Sins Invalid, and Mia Mingus.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Brianna Blaser
  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 14, 2021 | 10:43 a.m.

    Lisette, Thanks for the references! 

    Sheryl, AccessADVANCE PI

  • Icon for: Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

    Facilitator
    Research Scientist
    May 13, 2021 | 09:58 p.m.

    Hi Lisette! Those sound great! Thanks for sharing! Looking at Kafer's book on Google Books. 

  • Icon for: Ning Wang

    Ning Wang

    Graduate Student
    May 14, 2021 | 08:15 a.m.

    Very meaningful! Thanks for sharing! Wonderful works!

  • Icon for: Elena Ortiz

    Elena Ortiz

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 15, 2021 | 03:41 p.m.

    Thank you for sharing those stories, I also feel seen! I love the idea of offering accommodations to job candidates, I wish I’d thought of it

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 16, 2021 | 08:29 p.m.

    Well, if you DO think of something else, please pass it along to us!

  • Icon for: Hala Schepmann

    Hala Schepmann

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 17, 2021 | 02:59 a.m.

    I am hopeful that your efforts will produce a compilation of methods and policies that each of us can implement at our institutions!

  • Icon for: Chih-Ing Lim

    Chih-Ing Lim

    Researcher
    May 17, 2021 | 12:05 p.m.

    Thank you for sharing such important work. My work focuses on including children with disabilities (birth to five) in STEM learning and we know that support at every step of the way is critical for children to develop a positive STEM identity, for adults and peers to have high expectations. I can also see how your efforts can also help others of us increase the participation and advancement of individuals with disabilities in other disciplines as well.

  • Icon for: Rosa Olivera

    Rosa Olivera

    Undergraduate Student
    May 17, 2021 | 02:32 p.m.

    Very wonderful video to watch, and very brave for all of you to speak out.

    My main question as a student is how can we contribute and be an advocate for our fellow professors who have a visible/non-visible disability?

  • Icon for: Brianna Blaser

    Brianna Blaser

    Lead Presenter
    Associate Director, AccessADVANCE and AccessComputing
    May 17, 2021 | 02:39 p.m.

    Disability needs to be more fully integrated into conversations and efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion.  One way for students to get involved is to ask questions at their institution regarding accessibility.  Give feedback about things like captioning videos, asking for accommodations when people register for an event, and when disability is missing from these efforts.  

     
    2
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Chih Ing Lim
    Janelle Johnson
  • Icon for: Janelle Johnson

    Janelle Johnson

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 17, 2021 | 03:06 p.m.

    We need to really tackle the issue from an institutional and societal lens. There is so much unexamined bias as you know.

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 17, 2021 | 04:13 p.m.

    I agree with you completely!

  • Icon for: Sheryl Burgstahler

    Sheryl Burgstahler

    Co-Presenter
    Director, DO-IT and Accessible Technology Services
    May 18, 2021 | 11:28 a.m.

    That is definitely one of our objectives!

  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.