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Editorial

A Vision for Physical Chemistry: An Inclusive Future for all Abilities
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ACS Physical Chemistry Au

Cite this: ACS Phys. Chem Au 2024, 4, 2, 94–96
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https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphyschemau.3c00069
Published February 6, 2024

Copyright © Published 2024 by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under

CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 .

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Special Issue

Published as part of ACS Physical Chemistry Au virtual special issue “Visions for the Future of Physical Chemistry in 2050”.

To allow progression in the Physical Chemistry community, we require individuals who can face the grand challenges of the field with confidence and determination. In other words, the field of Physical Chemistry needs diversity. The daunting challenges of the field need minds capable of facing adversity and overcoming challenges. Individuals who face disability in their daily lives deal with unique challenges regularly. Scientists with disabilities grapple with many barriers to their work, which are often rooted in a mismatch between societal expectations and reality. (1) It must be noted that these individuals can have the potential to make many future strides in Chemistry, but are not able to fully demonstrate their potential due to limitations presented by the scientific community and society. Consciously or not, many in the field of Physical Chemistry further build upon these barriers. Accommodations are seen as an inconvenience, even an expense, rather than a necessity. This view fails to recognize the disabled chemist as valuable, instead implying they deter from the progress of science. Our vision for the future of Physical Chemistry is one where we recognize the need for diverse scientists and create accessible spaces where all scientists can safely contribute to the field, and we as a field learn from these colleagues about how to approach our research with resilience and creativity. Although, historically, promising minds have been excluded from fields of science on the basis of race, sex, gender, sexual/romantic orientation, and ability, efforts have been made to diversify them. The area of Physical Chemistry is no exception to this trend, but we still have room to grow. In an effort to broaden participation, the vision this editorial puts forth includes more disabled scientists in the movement to embrace the contributions of scientists from all backgrounds. This editorial presents two claims: (1) the norms in the current physical chemistry field serve to slow the progress of scientists with disabilities; and (2) if given the tools and room to flourish, these same scientists with disabilities offer significant potential for scientific advancement. We also present a vision of a future in physical chemistry where a supportive environment empowers the success of all our scientists.

Barriers

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Without Visibility, Awareness, and Representation, We Remain Foreign to the Stereotypical Chemist

Currently, about 11% of science and engineering doctorate degrees are earned by persons with disabilities, compared to over 13% of doctorate degrees earned by persons with disabilities across nonscience and engineering fields. (2) In fact, the same study shows that 65% of people employed in STEM fields with at least one disability have less than a Bachelor’s degree, further demonstrating that individuals with disabilities are less likely to pursue higher degrees in STEM fields even when interested.
Behind this barrier between interested students with disabilities and the rest of the chemists is a fundamental misunderstanding of disability, and how it relates to the ability to do science. In fact, 67% of people with no disability feel uncomfortable talking to a person with a disability. This discomfort primarily stems from fear, ignorance, and lack of exposure. (3) In scientific laboratories (laboratories), this is heightened because there are not many scientists that have disabilities or that are vocal about having one. The authors of this work are accomplished early career chemists who have already faced significant discrimination as a direct result of physical and emotional disabilities. Early in their educations and careers, chemists with no disabilities are offered an opportunity to seamlessly transition from students to researchers, and explore their own unique role in the scientific community. However, for scientists with disabilities, the competitive environment without flexibility sends a message that there is no role for them to play. Scientific success is not enough, as the prevailing attitude demands researchers demonstrate passion and resilience through long hours in the lab or complete independence, and any struggle is taken as evidence that they are not “good enough”.
This messaging is constant and insistent. When one author, who uses a visible aid, enters science buildings/rooms, she is greeted with stares and gazes displaying shock and disbelief that a person with disabilities is present in such an elite environment. Many students and scientists struggle daily with Imposter Syndrome, but chemists with disabilities (CWD) are regularly interrogated with questions of the “How are you here?” nature, exasperating the issue. We are constantly made to feel we need to defend our right to exist in a space not designed for us, even as we continue to achieve scientific advances.
This does not negate the fact that there have been individuals that have given us the opportunity to grow, so that we could become chemists. In other words, the support of individuals along the scientific journey can make a dramatic difference in combating this messaging and leaving room for a scientist with disabilities to flourish.

Potential

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We Are Seen Only for Our Struggles, Not Our Potential

Scientists with disabilities are easy to dismiss as not belonging in science. (4) Studies have shown that the perceptions of students with disability, as well as those of their parents and teachers, is that STEM fields are unwelcoming and/or unsuited for students with disabilities. (5,6) Informed by both the literature and our personal experiences as CWD, we observe that it is easy to make claims that a disabled chemist is somehow less capable than a chemist without such barriers. The chemistry laboratories and instrumentation were not built having the spectrum of physical disabilities that exist in mind; they were made for able-bodied people. As a consequence, students who, for example, cannot reach the hood are seen as unsuitable and their potential as a scientist is diminished. At the same time, it is viewed as if someone struggling with mental illness is not made for the rigors of academia. Individuals who miss deadlines due to ADHD or social cues due to autism are labeled incompetent. Scientists with disabilities experience a backlash from the Chemistry community when approaching a problem/experimentation in a nonconventional way. This sentiment is at best uninformed and ableist at worst. In fact, it provides yet another barrier between very able minds and advancement in Physical Chemistry.
The traditional thought this field still upholds is that scientific advancement demands the best and brightest scientist, and CWD do not fit into that ideal. Behind this attitude is a lack of willingness to adjust for each individual. With appropriate accommodations, a chemist with a physical disability can troubleshoot experiments and collect novel data. When given the flexibility they need, a depressed or anxious chemist can find success in the field. The difficulties we encounter in being a “typical” scientist do not diminish our potential to do great science. This is evident in the CWD who overcome and achieve more to earn respect as scientist.
A chemist with disabilities is not an inferior chemist. We can have the same passion, fortitude, creativeness, and determination to succeed and propel the field into the future as one without, and deserve that same opportunity. Moreover, it should be noted that scientists with disabilities may even have skills beyond those typically observed. As an example, consider a visually- or hearing impaired chemist, who may discover novel ways to interpret and understand data. Similarly, a mobility-impaired chemist has unique ways to navigate the world and lab. As an early career academic, the same discipline one author requires to balance the many responsibilities is well-practiced in maintaining her mental health. Essential in surviving as a person with disabilities in a society is a resilience and ability to overcome challenges that serves us well in a research laboratory.

Vision for the Future

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A Scientist with Disabilities Deserves the Opportunity to Demonstrate the Same Value as One Without

We maintain that there exists a world where the barriers to success for scientists with disabilities are dismantled and our potential for success achieved. Making Physical Chemistry welcoming for scientists with disabilities means becoming a more accommodating field. It is worthwhile to recognize accommodations not as a burden, but as an opportunity to see further contributions made in Chemistry. According to the United States Department of Education, reasonable accommodations are modifications or adjustments to the tasks, environment or to the way things are usually done that enable individuals with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to participate in an academic program or a job. (7) In other words, accommodations are used to give people with disabilities the opportunity to be able to do things equally. They do not give people with disabilities an advantage or lower our standards for excellence in STEM, rather they “level the playing field”. (8) Accommodations can be varied, are very individualized, and can include no-tech, light-tech, or high-tech assistive devices and services. (9) Computers, adaptive technology, and network resources can bridge the communication and accessibility gaps for people with disabilities in laboratories. For example, a scientist may need screen-reader software to better engage with relevant literature; another may need tools in the lab to safely interact with chemicals and instruments. Other accommodations may take place in virtual landscapes (e.g., allowing work-from-home). By realizing the benefits of reasonable accommodations and making full use of them, it is possible to provide all chemists with the opportunity to be part of the future of Physical Chemistry.
Although accommodations for individual scientists are a powerful tool, the principles of Universal Design (10) offers another viable solution. All environments should be designed to meet the needs of any person. This is not only for the benefit of the minority, it is a fundamental condition of good design. By considering the diverse needs and abilities of all throughout the design process, universal design obeys the 7 following principles: (1) has equitable use; (2) has flexibility in use; (3) it is of simple and intuitive use; (4) there needs to be perceptible information; (5) minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions; (6) the design requires low physical effort; and (7) have appropriate size and space for approach and use. (11)
Given the clear role CWD may play in physical chemistry, and looking to the future, we pose a bold challenge to the field: do not accommodate to meet the needs of individual chemists as a reactive response. Instead, make your lab, and your classroom, a space where every scientist is already welcomed and able to contribute. We propose to chemists that they embrace an atmosphere of flexibility and support for one another, creating an environment to help all chemists thrive.
The challenges of the Physical Chemistry field are many, and only by welcoming and accommodating every scientist eager to contribute can we continue to move forward. Although it seems like there is no room for us CWD in the Physical Chemistry world, we need to be courageous and persistent enough to find it. As we make great advances in scientific understanding and technological development, it is time also to advance as human beings, with both empathy and respect for others.

Author Information

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References

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This article references 11 other publications.

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  1. Yihan Wei, Yushu Chen. Ergonomic Optimization of University Dormitory Furniture: A Digital Human Modeling Approach Using Jack Software. Sustainability 2025, 17 (1) , 299. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17010299
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Cite this: ACS Phys. Chem Au 2024, 4, 2, 94–96
Click to copy citationCitation copied!
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphyschemau.3c00069
Published February 6, 2024

Copyright © Published 2024 by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under

CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 .

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  • References

    This article references 11 other publications.

    1. 1
      Fiss, B. G.; D’Alton, L.; Noah, N. M. Nature 2023, 623, 913– 915,  DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-03634-x
      1
      Chemistry is inaccessible: how to reduce barriers for disabled scientists
      Fiss, Blaine G.; D'Alton, Laena; Noah, Naumih M.
      Nature (London, United Kingdom) (2023), 623 (7989), 913-915CODEN: NATUAS; ISSN:1476-4687. (Nature Portfolio)
      From classrooms to labs. and conferences, working in chem. presents huge challenges to disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent people. Some simple fixes can help to shift the dial.
    2. 2
      National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES); Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; National Science Foundation. Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities; tech. rep. NSF 23-315; Alexandria, VA, 2023.
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    3. 3
      Dixie, S.; Smith, C.; Touchet, A. The disability perception gap: Policy report ; 2018.
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    4. 4
      Yerbury, J. J.; Yerbury, R. M. Trends Neurosci 2021, 44, 507– 509,  DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.04.004
      4
      Disabled in academia: to be or not to be, that is the question
      Yerbury, Justin J.; Yerbury, Rachel M.
      Trends in Neurosciences (2021), 44 (7), 507-509CODEN: TNSCDR; ISSN:0166-2236. (Elsevier Ltd.)
      The authors explore the real-life issue of diversity disclosure within academia. The breadth of disability and discrimination is framed within the context of high demands and competitiveness. While some institutions are supportive, the culture of ableism, stigmatization, and the disabling barriers make disclosure of disability a complex and difficult decision. The authors discuss the importance of not only normalizing varying abilities, but embracing and valuing the diversity and contributions that individuals with disabilities bring to the academic environment.
    5. 5
      Alston, R. J.; Hampton, J. L. Rehabil. Couns. Bull. 2000, 43, 158– 164,  DOI: 10.1177/003435520004300306
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    6. 6
      Bellman, S.; Burgstahler, S.; Hinke, P. J. Postsec. Educ. Dis. 2015, 28, 103– 108
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    7. 7
      U.S. Department of Education. Protecting Students With Disabilities. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html, (accessed: 06.2023).
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    8. 8
      U.S. Department of Labor. Accomodations. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/accommodations, (accessed: 06.2023).
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    9. 9
      Watson, S.; Johnston, L. Sci. Teach. 2007, 74, 34– 38
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    10. 10
      CAST. About Universal Design for Learning. https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl, (accessed: 07.2023).
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.
    11. 11
      The National Disability Authority. What is Universal Design. https://universaldesign.ie/about-universal-design/the-7-principles, (accessed: 07.2023).
      There is no corresponding record for this reference.