Inside Higher Education Interview: A Difficult Pathway for Faculty with Disabilities

“No one wants to be around just because they are being legally complied to,” Dr. Stephanie Cawthon told Insider Higher Education in an interview about the barriers that disabled faculty face in academia.

In the article, “A Difficult Pathway,” reporter Lilah Burke talked to Dr. Cawthon and other faculty members with disabilities who have encountered negative stigmas, attitudes, and biases on campus — and how some disabled scholars have avoided higher education altogether.

Many colleges and universities also continue to have inaccessible infrastructure and — even when striving to boost diversity and inclusion — frequently fail to include disability in their efforts.

“There is certainly an emphasis on improving diversity. Disability is often not included in that umbrella, and so all those initiatives — targeted hires and scholarships and fellowships — disability tends to be left out. And so there are fewer opportunities to reach that population. There’s a sense that the disability is the problem rather than, here is a person, this is part of who they are and it has value,” Dr. Cawthon is quoted.

Dr. Cawthon recently published the article and infographic, 6 Ways to Dismantle Barriers for Disabled Faculty on Campus, which was republished by The Mind Hears.