A Continuum of Actions You Can Take Now to ADVANCE Disability Equity: A Report from the Field

Abstract

In this article we discuss workplace contexts for post-secondary STEM faculty and staff with disabilities and provide pragmatic and immediate steps we can all take to advance equitable disability-informed policies and practices. Findings: Faculty with apparent and/or unseen disabilities experience myriad barriers in their academic workplaces, barriers that always intersect with gendered and racialized (etcetera) identities that may either amplify or diminish the experience of disability discrimination. To respond to these inequities, we blend priorities created by disability scholars and activists—combined with participant input collected during national conversations hosted over the past two years through AccessADVANCE, a project designed to increase the engagement of individuals with disabilities in academic STEM careers—to yield suggestions for individual, collaborative, and institutional approaches to furthering disability equity. Conclusions: When all colleagues work together, developing a durable and responsive praxis of disability equity in post-secondary and STEM workplaces is possible.