Page 44 - UD Research Magazine Vol5-No1

42 | UD RESEARCH
Academia, ability
and people ‘like me’ by Karl Booksh
Have you ever wondered why there are so few people with disabilities in academia, and especially in science, tech- nology, engineering and math—the so-called STEM fields?
I became very interested in this phenomenon a few years back. I slowly realized that I rarely saw people ‘like me’ at national conferences, when giving seminars at other universities or
even in the applicant pools for new faculty hires.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Karl Booksh, UD professor
of chemistry and biochemistry, is a member of the National Recruiting and Retaining Students with Disabilities in Engineering and Science Board, the American Chemical Society Committee
on Chemists with Disabilities,
and the congressionally mandated Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering.
EVAN KRAPE