“From Classroom to Career: Building a Culture of Access for Geoscientists with Disabilities” is an NSF funded project (Award #2228095) that explores the experiences of d/Disabled people who are, or were, in the geoscience workforce.
Research Team: Anita Marshall, Jenifer Piatek, Elizabeth Sibert, Shirley Jackson, Michele Cooke, Cinzia Cervato, Samuel Nyarko, & project evaluator Akilah Alwan.
Organizations involved: The IAGD and The Mind Hears.
What is this study?
The perception of disability as a barrier to a successful career within academia as a whole and geosciences in particular, discourages many people with disabilities from starting or staying in geoscience degree programs. In addition, those disabled individuals who do finish a degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine (STEMM) discipline have a significantly higher unemployment and underemployed rates than their non-disabled peers with similar credentials. Additionally, barriers can compound for disabled BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized individuals. Yet little is known (outside of anecdotal evidence) about how that impacts students and career professionals in the geosciences.
This project will explore the experiences of geoscientists with disabilities and re-imagine what our teaching, work, field, and lab spaces would looked like, if they were inclusive of and DESIGNED by disabled Geoscientists.
This Planning Grant addresses the experiences of people with disabilities in the geoscience workforce in a systematic way, to identify barriers and successes. By drawing on the diverse academic experiences and life paths of disabled geoscientists, as well as those who began their training and careers in geosciences but changed fields due to inaccessibility or other barriers, we can transform anecdotes and individual advocacy into cultural change throughout the geosciences community.
How to get involved
Participate in our Focus Groups:
Focus groups took place in 2023. Please jump to the survey to contribute your voice to the project!
Participate in our Survey!
Our current survey about the experiences of geoscientists with disabilities in the workforce is available through February 2025: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bQHtQti7eiCHphI
Attend our Workshop in fall 2025
We will be hosting a hybrid workshop in conjunction with GSA Connects 2025 that brings together geoscience career professionals with disabilities, disability advocates, researchers, and policy makers to address the outcomes of the survey, and outline a way forward to a more disability-inclusive profession.
