
July 24, 2024
Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) and the Research Foundation of The City University of New York have received $2,251,904 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM (EES).
The research project, “Recentering the experiences of STEM majors with dis/abilities in college: Investigating systemic factors that enable/disable students from obtaining formal & informal accommodation,” will be active from August 2024 through July 2029.

BMCC Mathematics Professor Claire Wladis is Principal Investigator of the grant. The Co-Prinicipal Investigators are former BMCC professor Alyse Hachey, now Co-Chair of Teacher Education at the University of Texas, El Paso, and Fairleigh Dickinson University Professor of Higher Education-Data Analytics Catherine Manly.
Some research suggests that students with disabilities may seek informal accommodations, but little is known about online learning as an informal accommodation, and which other informal accommodations students may pursue, Professor Wladis explains.

Another focus of the research project will be barriers that students face when they are seeking formal and informal accommodations, and how this may vary by subgroup.
According to the project summary, initial pilot results suggest that commonly used terminology employed by colleges does not reflect how many students with disabilities self-identify.
“This project will be the first to systematically investigate—through large-scale, mixed-method research—gaps in our knowledge about how students with disabilities self-identify, and how this can contribute to under-identification and under-accommodation,” says Professor Wladis.

Outcomes of the research will pave the way for better identification of students with disabilities in higher education and STEM fields. It will produce research-based recommendations to improve college policies and practices so that they provide better access to both formal and informal accommodations for STEM students in college.
“Our aim is to ultimately raise the number and diversity of students with disabilities in STEM,” says Professor Wladis.
“This not only benefits our talented students; it benefits the STEM fields they enter as they begin their careers. More diverse teams yield more innovative problem-solving because of their varied backgrounds. Different perspectives result in more creative solutions and better workplace morale. It enables our STEM graduates to thrive and helps the organizations that employ them to achieve higher levels of scientific success.”
For more details, read the project summary here.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
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BMCC and the Research Foundation of The City University of New York have received $2,251,904 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM (EES)
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BMCC Mathematics Professor Claire Wladis is Principal Investigator of the grant. The Co-Principal Investigators are former BMCC professor Alyse Hachey, now Co-Chair of Teacher Education at the University of Texas, El Paso, and Fairleigh Dickinson University Professor of Higher Education-Data Analytics Catherine Manly.
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The grant period is August 2024 through 2029; findings will help eliminate barriers students face when seeking accommodations