Open AccessWe need to address ableism in science
Author(s) -
Raven J Peterson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
molecular biology of the cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.463
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1939-4586
pISSN - 1059-1524
DOI - 10.1091/mbc.e20-09-0616
Subject(s) - ableism , workforce , prejudice (legal term) , inclusion (mineral) , disability discrimination , field (mathematics) , population , disabled people , disability studies , inclusion–exclusion principle , engineering ethics , public relations , sociology , psychology , social psychology , social science , gender studies , political science , law , mathematics , applied psychology , engineering , life style , demography , politics , pure mathematics
In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, disabled people remain a significantly underrepresented part of the workforce. Recent data suggests that about 20% of undergraduates in the United States have disabilities, but representation in STEM fields is consistently lower than in the general population. Of those earning STEM degrees, only about 10% of undergraduates, 6% of graduate students, and 2% of doctoral students identify as disabled. This suggests that STEM fields have difficulty recruiting and retaining disabled students, which ultimately hurts the field, because disabled scientists bring unique problem-solving perspectives and input. This essay briefly explores the ways in which ableism-prejudice against disabled people based on the assumption that they are "less than" their nondisabled peers-in research contributes to the exclusion of disabled scientists and suggests ways in which the scientific community can improve accessibility and promote the inclusion of disabled scientists in academic science.