NEWSWISE — U.S. science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM) PhD recipients who acquire a disability by age 25 earn $14,360 less per year in academia than their non-disabled peers, according to a new study from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Disability and Health Research. They are also underrepresented in senior faculty and tenure-track positions, such as deans and provosts.
“We’re trying to identify barriers to inclusion and remove them,” says Bonilyn Swenar, PhD, MPH, Endowed Professor of Disability Health and Justice and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Disability Health Research. “Structural change is needed to combat disparities.”
Previous studies have documented wage gaps and unequal representation in STEM fields among women and minorities in the U.S. Research has also found that scientists and engineers with disabilities (regardless of the age at which their disability began) are more likely to be unemployed than the U.S. workforce as a whole. However, there is a lack of data on disparities for STEM PhD recipients with disabilities.
Dr. Swenor and colleagues looked for evidence of differences in pay and representation among STEM PhD recipients with disabilities before age 25 and those with disabilities after age 25, compared to PhD recipients without disabilities. The authors used national data on approximately 1.15 million U.S. research PhD recipients who earned their degrees between 1973 and 2017. Of the sample, 704,013 were currently working in STEM fields (including 36,807 who reported experiencing a disability later in life and 20,544 who reported a disability from childhood). Within this subset, the authors matched individuals by socioeconomic background, work, and degree-related characteristics.
Across all employment sectors, STEM PhDs with disabilities earn $10,580 less per year than their non-disabled peers, and in academia they earn $14,360 less. The authors also found that people with disabilities are underrepresented in senior faculty and tenured positions, such as deans and provosts. The authors call for structural reforms to close these disparities.
“The Disability Health Research Centre aims to shift the paradigm of ‘living with disability’ to ‘thriving with disability’ and is using a data-driven approach to drive change across many fields, including STEM,” said Dr Swenor.
Currently, more than 27 percent of American adults have a disability, yet people with disabilities still face many barriers to health, equity, and inclusion.
The paper, “STEM PhDs with Early Life Disabilities Have Lower Salaries and Less Opportunities for Advanced Academic Careers,” published in Nature Human Behavior, is by Bonnielynn Swenor, Franz Castro (JHSON), Elizabeth Stewart (JHSPH), Jennifer Diehl (JHSPH; JHSOM) and Varshini Varadaraj (JHSON). The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.
About the Johns Hopkins Center for Disability and Health Research
The Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center (DHRC) seeks to shift the paradigm from “living with disability” to “living thriving with disability” through research, education, and policy. Using a data-driven approach, DHRC addresses inequities that affect people with disabilities in a variety of areas, including health care, food access, housing, transportation, employment, and education. Located within the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, DHRC engages diverse experts and trainees from across Johns Hopkins University and partners with disability advocacy groups, nonprofit and professional organizations, and national, state, and local policymakers. For more information, visit disabilityhealth.jhu.edu.
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The Institute for Policy Solutions at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is where research, evidence, innovation and thought leadership come together to shape policy for a healthier future. Through evidence-based, nurse-led, practical solutions, the Institute shifts policy and practice from disease care to prevention and whole-person care. Trusted by the public and decision makers, nurses serve as strategic experts and change agents in redesigning the U.S. health care system. Learn more at instituteforpolicysolutions.org.