STEM doctorate recipients with disabilities experienced early in life earn lower salaries and are underrepresented among higher academic positions.

ABSTRACT

There is paucity of data examining disparities in salary and representation for disabled scientists, which is needed to advance inclusion and equity for people with disabilities in STEM. Using data from the 2019 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (United States, N = 1,148,817), we show that doctorate recipients working in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with disabilities experienced early in life (at age <25 yr) earned US$10,580 less per year (95% CI -$13,661, -$7,499) than non-disabled workers. In the subset of academic workers, doctorate recipients with early disabilities earned $14,360 less (95% CI -$17,546, -$11,175) than those without disabilities. We observed an underrepresentation of academics with disabilities in higher faculty ranks (χ2 647.2; P < 0.0001), among Deans/Presidents (χ2 27.4; P = 0.0004) and among those with tenure (χ2 525; P < 0.0001). These findings support a need to expand inclusion efforts, provide equal opportunities for career advancement and improve working conditions for people with disabilities in STEM.