STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN STEM

(1)

 

Topics

• Students with disabilities in STEM

–

Statistical perspective

–

Sociological context

• Federal support for scientists with disabilities in STEM

• Research Experience for Undergraduates at UD

–

Program

–

Lessons and outcomes

• Where to go next

–

Needs

–

Opportunities

(2)

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN STEM

(3)

 

• Ireland, they say, has the honour of being the

only country which never persecuted the

jews. Do you know that? No. And do you know

why? He frowned sternly on the bright air.

• Why, sir? Stephen asked, beginning to smile.

• Because she never let them in, Mr. Deasy said

solemnly

(4)

2.0

Percent Citizen or Permanent

Resident of U.S. Doctorates

3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

Black = +0.16 % per year

Hispanic = +0.17 % per year

Disabilities = +0.009 % per year

No change in relative STEM Doctoral Attainment since

ADA

1.0 _{Native American = +0.011 % per year} 0

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in

(5)

Academic Distribution of Disabilities in STEM

7% Population 16 – 20 (1) 13% Population 18- 44 (2) 13% Population 20 – 65 (1) 1% of STEM doctorates (2008) (1) Biological Sciences 76 Chemistry 23 Agricultural Sciences 23 Phys. and Astronomy 13 Environmental Sciences 8 Math and Stats. 14 Computer Science 22

Psychology 74

Sociology 83

Engineering 50

Postdoctoral Associates suppressed by NSF (1)

Increasing representation with age

1. National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in

(6)

Systemic Pipeline Issue for Students with Disabilities

• 8.6% total school population under Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

– 13.8% public school attendees

• 7% population between 16 and 21 • 13% population between 21 and 65

• Interest in STEM ﬁelds at same rate as students without disabilities – In college: 21.7% v. 23.1%

– In graduate school: 20.3% v. 21.3%

Science and Engineering, 2009. NSF 09-305.

(7)

Civil Rights, Jobs Issue, and/or National Security

• Vicious cycle

– Not attaining educational goals à – Under- or unemployment à

– Lack of role-models and avatars • February 2014 Dept. of Labor statistics

– Labor force participation: 19.1% v. 68.5% – Unemployment: 14.3% v. 6.8%

• Salary gap in S&E

– 4% younger than 29 years old – 13% for 40 to 49 years old • Dept. of Commerce

– Predicts 17% increase in STEM jobs 2008 – 2018

– Need 1,000,000 more STEM jobs in next decade to maintain com – 2/3 require college degree

– Verses 9% increase and 1/3 degree for non-STEM

Daughtry, D., J. Gibson, and A. Abels, Mentoring Students and Professionals With Disabilities. Professional Psychology-Research and Practice, 2009.

40(2): p. 201-205

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, 2009. NSF 09-305

(8)

Our (Poorly) Hidden Biases Cause Problems for Others

Schema

Pogo Possum

Faculty prefer to hire themselves

Gender

Race

Ethnicity

Thought process

Work habits

Shared beliefs

Career trajectory

(9)

Education Path Discrepancies

2-Year v. 4-Year College

Full-time v. Part-time

w/ disability 47% v. 42%

w/ disability 58.2% v. 41.8%

w/o disability 42% v. 47%

w/o disability 63.4% v. 38.6%

Graduate Students < 24-years old

w/ disability 7.5%

w/o disability 17.6%

Returning students

Leave of absence for illness

Retraining post disability

_{Military Commitments}

(10)

Our (Poorly) Hidden Biases Cause Problems for Others

Schema

Faculty prefer to hire themselves

Pogo Possum

Gender

Race

Ethnicity

Thought process

Work habits

Shared beliefs

Career trajectory

(11)

Solo Status / Tokenism

• Solo Status

– Only one of a group • Tokenism

– Group with minority representation (<15%)

• Often associated with negative feelings and outcomes – Isolation

– Showcased – Depression

– Social withdrawal

(12)

Our (Poorly) Hidden Biases Cause Problems for Others

Schema

Pogo Possum

Faculty prefer to hire themselves

Gender

Race

Ethnicity

Thought process

Work habits

Shared beliefs

Career trajectory

Stereotype Threat

Solo status / Tokenism

(13)

 

Stereotype Threat

• Self-deﬁning a negative

• Mechanistic Factors

stereotype about a group

1

_–

_{Psychological stress}

– Blacks and Hispanics in

–

Performance monitoring

academics

_–

_{Emotional regulation}

2

– Low socioeconomic groups

in academics

_{– Distraction}

– Women in underperform in

_{– Narrowed attention}

math

– Anxiety

– Seniors in memory

– Self-consciousness

– White men in athletics

– Withdrawal of eﬀort

– Gay men in child care

– Over-eﬀort

3

– White men in academics

(pitted against Asian men)

1. Stereotype Threat: an Overview. From www.reducingstereotypethreat.org

2. Schmader, T., Johns, M., & Forbes, C. (2008). An integrated process model of stereotype threat effects on performance. Psychological Review, 115, 336-356.

3. Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African-Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797-811.

(14)

The Matthew Eﬀect

Matthew 13:12 For whoever has, to him more shall be

given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does

not have, even what he has shall be taken away from

him.

“The Matthew Effect in Science”, Science 159: 56-63 (1968)

The more accomplished scientist gets credit, even if lesser contribution Top universities recruit people with recognized successes (awards) Receiving small awards impacts receiving bigger awards

Awards tend to go to people from top universities Same Schema in deciding nominations!

RA supported graduate students

w/ disability 16.4% w/o disability 24.4%

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics,

Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering,

14 2009. NSF 09-305.

(15)

… Which leads to …

6.0 5.0 4.0

Hispanic = +0.17 % per year

Black = +0.16 % per year

3.0

Percent Citizen or Permanent

Resident of U.S. Doctorates

Disabilities = +0.009 % per year

2.0

1.0 _{Native American = +0.011 % per year} 0

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

(16)

Federal Support for Scientists with

Disabilities

(17)

 

Lack of Programs to Support Students with

Disabilities in Postsecondary Education

• 2010 Federal STEM Education Inventory Data Set on broadening

participation

– All federal agencies with outreach

– $397.8M to ‘Institutional Capacity’ or ‘Postsecondary STEM’

• $378.3M to underrepresented minorities

• $19.6M to students with disabilities

(18)

Sampling of Biggest Programs

• NSF LSAMP (~$45M 2010 budget) • NIH RISE (~$24M 2010 budget)

• NIH MARC U-STAR (~$21M 2010 budget),

• NOAA Educational Partnership with Minority Serving Institutions (~$15M 2010 budget),

• NASA University Research Centers for minority serving institutions (~$14M 2010 budget),

• DOE HBCU STEM Research Workforce Development Program (~$9M 2010 budget)

• NSF Research on Disability Education program (~$ 7 M 2010 budget)

(19)

‘Focus’ Program Funding (in $M)

Program Focus FY 05 FY 06 FY 07 FY 08 FY 09 FY 10 Fy 11 FY 12 (est)

ADVANCE Women 19.9 19.5 16.6 20.1 21.7 21.0 19.8 18.0 AGEP UM 15.0 14.6 15.3 15.9 17.2 16.7 16.7 9.8 BPC UM n/a 14.2 13.5 14.0 14.0 14.0 8.0 8.0 CREST UM 15.6 17.8 18.8 25.0 30.4 30.3 30.4 24.2 HBCU-‐UP UM 25.3 25.7 27.9 29.7 31.1 32.1 31.9 31.9 LSAMP UM 35.6 36.1 38.1 40.5 42.5 44.6 45.6 45.6 RDE Dis 5.0 5.3 5.4 5.9 6.9 6.9 6.5 6.5 GSE Women 9.9 9.7 9.9 10.1 11.4 11.6 10.4 10.5 TCUP UM 9.2 10.8 10.4 12.8 13.4 13.4 13.3 13.3 TOTAL 135.5 153.7 155.9 174.0 188.6 190.6 182.6 167.8

(20)

Speaking of Priorities…

(21)

Only 3 Active Professional Societies

• American Advancement for Science and Engineering – Project on Science, Technology and Disability • American Chemical Society

– Committee on Chemists with Disabilities • American Psychological Society

(22)

Is the same trend occurring in the Professoriate?

(23)

Percen

tPI

on

Su

bmi

Bed

Pro

po

sa

ls

NSF Percent PI on Submitted Proposals

4.5

4

3.5 y = 0.0717x -‐ 140.2

3 Black

2.5 Hispanic

2 y = 0.0467x -‐ 91.551

_Disabili:es

1.5

1 y = -‐0.0433x + 88.191

0.5

0 2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

Year

(24)

Percent

PI

on

NSF Awards

NSF Percent PI on Funded Proposals

4.5

4

3.5 y = 0.05x -‐ 96.833

3

2.5

Black

2

Hispanic

y = 0.025x -‐ 48.178

_Disabili:es

1

1.5 y = -‐0.025x + 51.333

0.5

0 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 201

_Year

(25)

NSF Relative Funding Rates

Group FY 04 FY 05 FY 06 FY 07 FY 08 FY 09 FY 10 FY 11 All 23.7% 23.4% 24.6% 25.7% 25.1% 32.3% 23.4% 21.7% Female 25.1% 25.5% 26.2% 27.1% 27.1% 33.9% 25.1% 22.6% Male 23.8% 23.2% 24.7% 25.9% 24.9% 32.5% 23.5% 22.0% Minority 23.4% 23.1% 24.5% 25.5% 24.3% 30.2% 22.5% 21.4% Disability 23.0% 20.9% 24.7% 23.2% 24.3% 31.7% 19.8% 19.7%

Female All Male Minority Disabil tcrit 90 1.415

Female x 11.679 7.779 7.478 6.497 tcrit 95 1.895

All >99.9 x -‐1.055 2.620 3.301 tcrit 99 2.998

Male >99.9 equiv x 2.694 3.401 tcrit 99.9 4.785

Minority >99.9 >95 >95 x 1.629 d.f. 7

(26)

PI Success

• Convolution with university size? • Convolution with career stage? • Convolution with type of proposal? • Lack of mentoring?

– NIH study on AA PIs indicates 5% lower funding rate due to lack of mentoring

(27)

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR

UNDERGRADUATES AT UD

(28)

 

Science and Engineering Leadership Initiative

• NSF funded Research Experience for Undergraduates

• Chemistry (broadly deﬁned)

–

Biochemists

–

Chemical Physics

–

Material Science

–

Chemical Engineers

• Disability

–

Students must identify as having disability

• Impacts performance or opportunities

(29)

 

SELI Goals

• State-of-the-art research experience

• Graduate school preparation

• Mentoring

–

Career

–

Career – disability intersection

• Community building

–

In ﬁeld of interest

–

Of scientists and engineers with disabilities

(30)

 

SELI - Activities

General

• 8 week research

• Presenting research

• Graduate school

expectations

• Selecting graduate

schools and advisors

• Field trip to DC

• Tour NIH NCI

• ACS Spring Expo

Disability

• Eﬀects of solo status and

stereotype threat

• Selecting graduate

schools/advisors

• Disclosure

• Negotiating

accommodations

• Community building

• Visit CWD

30

(31)

SELI – Surprises and Issues

• Demographics

– 50% psychological / social (i.e Autism spectrum) – 50% physical / sensory

• Acceptance of psychological / social as ‘professional’ – pending

• Safety

– Service dog in lab • Solved

– Epilepsy in lab

• Failed to ﬁnd a solution

– Social disability in graduate school • pending

(32)

Outcomes of Research

• Learned critical skills for achieving higher degrees in STEM

• All students have continued research at home institutions

– 0/8 had previous research experience

– 8/8 have either begun or lined-up research at home institution

• Poster presentations at University of Delaware and ACS 2015

(33)

WHERE TO GO NEXT

(34)

Science and Engineering Leadership

Initiative (SELI)

Preparing people with disabilities for Science,

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

(35)

 

Science and Engineering Leadership Initiative

Goals

• Approach equity in B.S., Ph.D.

and professional degree

attainment for PWD

• Prepare PWD for leadership

positions in industry and

academia

• Address national need for

increased STEM workforce

Eight Components

• Baseline data collection

• Compilation of accommodation

theory and best practices

• High School – College transition

• Performance and persistence in

college

• College – University transition

• Performance and persistence in

graduate school or professional

school

• Research

• Assessment

(36)

 

SELI: Baseline Data Collection

Tasks

• Determine College

readiness and STEM

interests for SWD in DE.

• Determine persistence

and performance of SWD

at UD.

• Survey accommodation

usage and needs at UD.

Motivation

• Scant data on recruiting

and retention of SWD at

UD.

• Little is known regarding

student needs and

progress at UD or in DE.

• Baseline data is needed

for competitive funding

(37)

 

SELI: Compilation of Accommodation Theory and Best

Practices  

Tasks

• Interactive, Wiki-like, web portal.

• Covering biology, physics,

chemistry/biochemistry, math/

stats, and environmental

sciences.

• ‘Front End Survey’ to determine

information needs and best

presentation methods to engage

SWD, educators, and

advocates.

• Workshop series of ﬁeld experts

to generate initial material.

Motivation

• Students and educators have

a diﬃcult time determining the

right accommodations.

• Lack of accommodations

leads to students exiting the

STEM pipeline.

• Promoting ‘universal design’ in

education helps all students.

(38)

 

SELI: High School to University Transition

Tasks

• Faculty advocate meets with

student and parents over

summer.

• Orientation of student with

campus and community

resources before semester

starts.

• Summer program to

implement accommodations

with faculty and DSS.

Motivation

• HS – Univ. transition critical

for all students. If fall

behind, diﬃcult to recover.

• SWD must anticipate,

locate, and negotiate

accommodations for ﬁrst

time.

• Integration into university

social structure key to

persistence and

(39)

 

SELI: Maintaining Performance and Persistence in

College

Tasks

• Research Experience for

Undergraduates.

• Faculty advocate for

accommodations.

• Seminar series on disability

issues in STEM.

• Peer and near-peer

mentoring.

• Tracking performance and

progress to anticipate

needs.

• Supporting universal design.

Motivation

• Alignment of student and

institution identities key

to persistence.

– Faculty relationship

– Research

– Mentoring

• Outcome expectancies

for student key to

(40)

 

SELI: University to Graduate School Transition

Tasks

Motivation

• Research Experience for

Undergraduate.

• Support to present

research at conferences.

• Career development

seminars.

• Workshop on selecting

and applying to graduate

school.

(41)

Expand REU Program

• Current

– 8 to 10 students per year – Chemistry

• Add 1 more REU

– 8 to 10 students per year

– Environmental sciences? Biosciences? Math / Physics? …. • Add NIH REU analog

– Losing HHMI on campus – 10 to 30 students

– Biomedical sciences

– Mix of UD and visiting students

(42)

 

SELI: Performance and Persistence in Graduate/

Professional School

Tasks

• Research Assistant

support for graduate

students and

postdoctoral associates

–

Money follows student

• Support for conferences

• Professional

development seminars

• Serve as near-peer

mentors for

undergraduates

Motivation

• SWD less likely to have

RA support

• Need to build

independence in research

career

• Developing leadership

skills

• Community building

(43)

 

SELI: Research on Factors Impacting SWD in

STEM

Tasks

• Determine eﬀect of ‘solo

status’ and ‘stereotype

threat’ on PWD.

• Understand how to counter

institutional biases against

PWD in STEM.

• Develop best strategies for

disclosure of disabilities.

• Demonstrate beneﬁts of

‘universal design’ in

education.

Motivation

• Compared to URM,

impacts on PWD not well

studied.

• Fundamental studies

needed to guide program

development.

(44)

 

SELI: Assessment

Tasks

• Formative and summative

• Internal and external

oversight

• Determine eﬃcacy of

meeting grand goals

• Optimize organization of

individual components.

• Identify new opportunities.

• Assure coordination with

aligned eﬀorts

Motivation

• Want program to be

eﬀective and eﬃcient

• Need metrics and

assessments to

implement needed

changes as program

evolves

• Support for

dissemination and

propagation of results

(45)

External Funding Opportunities

• ~90% of federal postsecondary funding for underrepresented groups in STEM goes to underrepresented minorities.

• Most federal funding to SWD is for service job training and life skills, not postsecondary education and career opportunities.

• Major program for postsecondary funding for SWD in STEM (NSF Research on Disability Education) was cancelled in 2011.

• Potential programs for funding

– NIH Research Initiative for Scientiﬁc Enhancement (claims SWD, but no current SWD awards)

– NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates ($57M budget, 2 awards for SWD)

– DOE National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (limited to $150k per year)

(46)

NEED: “National Technical Institute for Disability”

– Accepted: 464 $26K Tuition, room, board

• Rochester National Technical Institute for the Deaf

– Applicants: 796 – Enrolled: 324 • Total students in 2015 – Sub-baccalaureate: 556 – Baccalaureate: 529 – Graduate: 44 – Career exploration: 68 • BA/BS Enrollment – Physical Sciences: 37