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, 

• Join the AccessADVANCE Community of Practice to participate in discussions and learn of opportunities to promote the increased participation of women with disabilities in STEM faculty careers.
• Apply for an AccessADVANCE Minigrant for funding to support activities to expand, replicate, and disseminate practices related to our project goals nationwide.
• Participate in our Capacity Building Institute: Increasing the Participation of Women with Disabilities in Academic STEM Careers to be held virtually May 25 and 27, 2021.

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.

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. 

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.

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.).

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.  

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?

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...

Absolutely! 

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! 

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.

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.

Absolutely!

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.

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.

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

Very meaningful! Thanks for sharing! Wonderful works!

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

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

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

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.

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?

I agree with you completely!

That is definitely one of our objectives!