Scientists and engineers with disability^{​Data on people with disabilities have limitations. Most data on disability are self-reported. Surveys from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics include a series of questions where the respondent is asked, “What is the USUAL degree of difficulty you have with” seeing; hearing; walking; lifting 10 pounds; and concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. The response choices are none, slight, moderate, severe, and unable to do. Respondents who report “moderate,” “severe,” or “unable to do” for any activity were classified as having a disability. See the online technical notes for a full discussion of the data limitations.} who are in the early stage of their career are of special interest. Incidence of disability increases with age. For example, of all employed science, engineering, and health doctorate holders, 5.0% of those under age 40 have a disability, whereas 9.4% of those ages 40 and over have one. Older scientists and engineers experiencing aging-related disabilities, such as deterioration of sight or hearing, who are already employed, and perhaps already tenured, are less likely to face career barriers.^{​See Mann DR, Wittenburg DC. 2015. Starting Behind. Journal of Disability Policy Studies 26(2)89–99. doi:10.1177/1044207315583898.}

Findings for persons with disability are reported throughout this report and are also included below.

• About 10% of women and about 9% of men who are scientists and engineers with at least a bachelor’s degree reported that they are not working due to chronic illness or disability (figure 30). In addition, scientists and engineers with disability have a higher unemployment rate than do those without disability and a higher unemployment rate than the overall U.S. unemployment rate in 2019 (figure 33).
• Among employed scientists and engineers with at least a bachelor’s degree, men had a higher disability rate than did women and underrepresented minorities had a higher rate than did Whites or Asians (figure 32).
• Among employed scientists and engineers with disability, a smaller share worked in science and engineering (S&E) or S&E-related occupations and a larger share worked in non-S&E occupations than those without disability (figure 34).
• The share of employed scientists and engineers with disability who had supervisory status was similar to that of those without disability (figure 38).

In addition, doctorate recipients in S&E fields in 2019 had a lower disability rate than those in non-S&E fields. However, among doctorate recipients in S&E fields, a larger proportion of those with disability than those without reported that their primary support of their graduate program was personal or family funds, in particular, loans. In addition, a smaller proportion of those with disability reported receiving research assistantships, traineeships, or internships or having fellowships, scholarships, or grants than did their counterparts without disability (figure 48).

These findings indicate that scientists and engineers with disability differ from those without disability across a range of measures. For example, those with disability have a higher rate of unemployment. Further investigation is planned into the educational attainment and employment of those with disability and their career paths to better understand their representation in the U.S. S&E enterprise.