stem Resources

This page contains a list of organizations and programs for anyone with a disability who is interested in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Professionals in the field, college and high school students, teachers, and parents can all find potential organizations, networking opportunities, and funding for research. If you know of a resource that is missing, please go to the contact page and let me know!

(Only programs with stars next to the name are endorsed, meaning I've personally talked with management or someone who has worked with them closely)

• General Disability Inclusion in STEM
• Professional STEM Disability Resources
• STEM Disability Resources for College Students
  • Disability STEM Funding: Grants and Scholarships
• K-12 Disability STEM Education Resources
  • STEM Disability Scholarship Resources for High School Juniors/Seniors
• Disability STEM Congferences and Gatherings

This section includes organizations that do a wide variety of things that aren't easily put into one of the other categories.

Change Catalyst: Their aim is to create more inclusive environments in the tech industry for marginalized groups. They provide mentoring, conferences, career fairs, consulting and training. They also have supports for start-ups and other opportunities  Follow them on Twitter. Note: the site is confusing to navigate if you are low vision.

*AAS WGAD: Working toward the advancement of inclusion of people with disabilities in the field of astronomy. Follow them on Twitter.

American Chemical Society, Chemists with Disabilities Division: This is a subsection of ACS. They do meet semi-annually and they welcome students and professionals alike into their ranks.

AccessCOMPUTING: Run by Do-It with the University of Washington. This program works to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities working towards computer science degrees. Access to mentors, internships, and scholarship opportunities.

AccessENGINEERING: Run by Do-It with the University of Washington. It works to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in engineering. It offers mentors, grants, and networking opportunities.

Entry Point!: A program run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It makes an effort to match up qualified college STEM students with disabilities, with internships. Participants and their host sites receive ongoing support from AAAS throughout the internship experience.

Lime Connect: This organization helps to connect university students with scholarships, internships, and their Lime Connect Fellowship Program. They also help to connect students with full-time employment post-graduation. While it does not serve solely STEM students, many of their partners are high profile companies in the tech industry. Follow on Twitter.

Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School: Not disability specific, and only for New York City area students. However, the program is 8 weeks long and offers a $5,000 stipend, plus a laptop. Minorities are strongly encouraged to apply, and the Microsfot Accessibility team sent me this link themselves as a potential resource.

Next Billion: A mentorship program for college students in the US and Canada who is interested in going into the tech industry. Mentors can help with networking, disability related guidance in the field, help with career guidance, and help apply for jobs. Follow them on Twitter.

Rochester Bridges to Doctorate Program: This is a program run out of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, at RIT. It is a scholars program for d/Deaf students attending RIT going into their first year of a masters program, or are in a BS/MS program. It offers financial assistance (including paid assistantships and conference travel money), career guidance, and mentoring.

Foundation for Science and Disability: Government grant program intended to support the research of STEM undergraduate students with disabilities.

AccessCS: Run by Do-It with the University of Washington. It focuses on teaching practices for getting k-12 students with disabilities involved in computer science. It also provides accessible materials that k-12 educators can include in their curriculum.

AccessSTEM: Run by Do-It with the University of Washington. This branch focuses on helping K-12 teachers make science education accessible to their students with disabilities.

*National Center for Blind Youth in Science: Run under the National Federation for the Blind, they run a summer academy for blind youth. Their programming varies from year to year based on available funding. Website may not be entirely up-to-date, but they are operational.

Microsoft disAbility Scholarship: Awarded to high school seniors who are planning on going to a 2 or 4-year post-secondary institution in the fall after graduation, and be declaring a major in, "engineering, computer science, computer information systems, law, business, or a related field  (e.g. paralegal, pre-law, finance, business administration, or marketing).

AlterConf: A traveling tech conference that focuses on diversity (I haven't talked with them yet to verify accommodation requests can be filled).

Tech Inclusion: Run by Change Catalyst. Primarily it has tech conferences geared toward showcases the work of start-ups run by people within marginalized groups.  They offer scholarships to attend their conferences. They also have career fairs and have mentoring. Follow on Twitter.