Student-based Recommendations to Increase Accessibility in Undergraduate Engineering Programs

This research paper explores what disabled students, both those with and without formal accommodations, want from their schools and instructors to better access their education.This work describes a range of barriers to equitable access to education, as experienced by undergraduates in their engineering classes.Additionally, it formalizes disabled engineering students' recommendations for university systems and instructors to ease the burden the students face.Recommendations include both instructor-and administrative-level supports. II. METHODS A. PositionalityBoth authors hold engineering degrees and identify as white, disabled women.The first author, whose disability affects her cognitive function, energy, and mobility, is working towards a graduate engineering degree.This research came to fruition out of the frustration we felt after the first author experienced numerous barriers to accommodations and faculty support during her first year of graduate school.We are motivated by this experience to increase accessibility in engineering education for disabled students, and by extension, all students.