Graduate Program in Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Mol Biol Cell. 2021 Apr 1;32(7):507-510. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E20-09-0616.
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.
在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域，残疾人士仍然是劳动力中代表性严重不足的一部分。最近的数据表明，在美国，大约 20%的本科生有残疾，但在 STEM 领域的代表性始终低于普通人群。在那些获得 STEM 学位的人中，只有大约 10%的本科生、6%的研究生和 2%的博士生认为自己是残疾。这表明 STEM 领域在招募和留住残疾学生方面存在困难，这最终会损害该领域，因为残疾科学家带来了独特的解决问题的视角和投入。本文简要探讨了在研究中存在的对残疾人士的偏见——基于残疾人士不如他们的非残疾同行的假设——是如何导致残疾科学家被排斥的，并提出了科学界可以改善无障碍性并促进残疾科学家融入学术科学的方法。
