Breadcrumb Trail
Session C: A Historical Comparison of Students with Disabilities Including Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) Disciplines in Higher Education Past, Present, & Future
- Date and Time
- Tuesday, April 22, 3:45 PM to 5:15 PM
- Presenters
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- Leigh Bookwalter (Research Associate; Special Ed & Transition Services; Nisonger Center for Disabilities; The Ohio State University)
- Wayne Cocchi (Director; Disability Services; Columbus State Community College)
- Margo Izzo (Program Manager; Special Ed & Transition Services; Nisonger Center for Disability; The Ohio State University)
- L. Scott Lissner (ADA Coordinator; The Ohio State University)
- Michele Wheatly (Dean, College of Science & Mathematics; Professor of Biological Sciences; Wright State University)
- Description
-
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have facilitated a significant demographic trend: more students with disabilities are attending college than ever before. Even though progress has been made by postsecondary institutions to include SWD in the academic, social and political facets of higher education, these students remain a misunderstood and overlooked minority. Over the past year a group of faculty and staff from The Ohio State University, Columbus State Community College, and Wright State University have been collaborating together through a grant from the Ohio Learning Network (OLN) to look at designing a regional alliance for persons with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. While industry jobs traditionally requiring only a high school diploma decrease, the need for and dependency on STEM careers is growing. If students with disabilities are not provided access to education or training in STEM areas they will simply be largely excluded from quality employment following their high school years. Furthermore, we will all then lose from the absence of their important perspectives, skills, experiences, knowledge, and abilities in our colleges and workforce. This presentation will look at past, present, and future initiatives to increase the number of students with disabilities in higher education specifically in STEM areas.