A recent US study highlights a concerning pay disparity among scientists with disabilities, revealing that those who experienced disabilities early in life earn approximately $14,000 less annually compared to their non-disabled counterparts. The analysis, based on data from over 80,000 US doctoral graduates in science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM) fields, sheds light on a previously overlooked aspect of diversity within these disciplines.
The study, detailed in Nature Human Behaviour (DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01745-z), led by Bonnielin Swenor, Director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center in Baltimore, explores the pay discrepancies by examining information from the 2019 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR). This dataset encompasses details of 80,882 US PhD graduates, a subset of the 1.15 million individuals who obtained research doctorates between 1973 and 2017.
The findings reveal that among the 700,000 STEM professionals still active from the 1973-2017 PhD cohort, those with disabilities acquired early in life face an annual income reduction of $10,580 compared to their non-disabled peers. Notably, if employed in academic institutions, this pay gap widens to an average of $14,360 less than colleagues without disabilities.
The study also underscores the under-representation of doctorate recipients with disabilities in higher academic positions, such as professors, tenured academics, deans, and presidents. However, no significant salary differences were observed between doctorate recipients with late-onset disabilities and those without disabilities in the overall STEM workforce or within STEM academia.
The researchers attribute the observed disparities to unique challenges and structural barriers faced by individuals with early-onset disabilities when entering the workforce, hindering equal pay and career advancement opportunities. While cautioning against overlooking challenges faced by older workers with disabilities, the study advocates for addressing ableism in STEM to foster an inclusive environment that rectifies these inequities.
Bonnielin Swenor emphasizes the need for structural transformations to create institutional environments that promote inclusion and tackle these disparities. She asserts that focusing on accessibility and universal design in STEM is crucial for the inclusion of disabled scientists, highlighting the broader biases and barriers that hinder their participation in the workforce.
The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of diverse perspectives in driving scientific discovery and innovation, asserting that excluding STEM professionals with disabilities results in missed opportunities to advance science. The call to address barriers faced by individuals with disabilities in STEM fields is presented as imperative for the progress of scientific research.
