Barriers to breakthroughs: Empower disabled students in STEM!
Barriers to breakthroughs: Empower disabled students in STEM!
For the past 2 years, the Donald Bren School of ICS at UC Irvine has partnered with Orange County high schools to empower disabled students to pursue STEM careers through AccessUCI––an evidence-based program of workshops, scholarships, and mentorships. In 2025, our program’s funding was terminated. We are inviting you to help us raise $20,000 to sustain and grow AccessUCI, so disabled students in OC have the community support and skills needed to thrive in STEM classrooms and beyond.
Why This Matters
People with disabilities are underrepresented in the STEM workforce, representing just 3% of the STEM workforce (NCSES, 2023), despite comprising 27% of the general population (CDC, 2024). Why? Physical and digital barriers to higher education persist. But, social barriers, including a lack of mentor figures who say “you can do this!,” are the biggest impediment of all.
For the past 5 years, Professor Stacy Branham has co-led AccessComputing, a 20-year-long national effort to expand opportunities for students with disabilities in computing majors. AccessComputing’s combination of workshops, scholarships, and mentorships has demonstrated that this is a formula that works. Whereas only 35.1% of disabled students and 53.8% of non-disabled students complete their computing degrees (IES, 2011), a whopping 90% of AccessComputing students graduate college in computing! Now you can help Professor Branham and her collaborators bring this success to disabled students in STEM at UC Irvine and throughout Orange County with a gift to the Stacey Nicholas Office of Outreach, Access, Inclusion fund.
Our Programming
Workshops
We host regular workshops and training sessions on topics such as how to write college essays, how to access college-level math textbooks, and how educators can break down barriers, which reach 100s of students and educators each year!
Scholarships
We sponsor 3 local high school students with disabilities annually to participate in a college-level research experience in a real lab at UC Irvine, to show students that they can learn STEM and innovate the future!
Mentorships
We connect disabled high school students with UC Irvine faculty, staff, and students, many of whom also identify as disabled, to share know-how and inspirational stories of resilience so they can persevere.
Our Impact
At our annual flagship workshop, we conduct pre- and post- surveys with attendees, and we’re seeing results! For example, there was a 45% increase in educators' confidence levels that disabled high school students can succeed in college and STEM programs.
“When Dr. Branham began to talk, I honestly got a little emotional. I thought, ‘I am not alone in this!’”
- blind high school student in OC
“AccessUCI showed me there's other people out there who have gone through the same thing, and you're able to strive for your dream.”
- low vision high school student in OC
“I am so grateful to have attended this workshop. Thank you to all of you who had a hand in making this happen. It has definitely opened my eyes to how much more preparation is needed in order for my students to be successful in a college setting and more specifically in the area of math/science. This is a huge take away!!”
- teacher from high school in OC
“Within my courses I use visual demonstrations to illustrate code and conceptual concepts. Prior to the workshop, I had not considered how I would adjust the demonstrations for students with vision challenges. ... Since the workshop, I find I am continually considering potential obstacles students may face within my courses such as access, formatting, or content delivery.”
- professor in STEM at UC Irvine
Want to Learn More, or Contribute in Other Ways?
We’re building a community, a movement. If you’re someone who has expertise and can contribute by giving a presentation at a workshop, serving as a mentor, or helping in other creative ways, we want to hear from you!
Contact Professor Stacy Branham at access-uci@uci.edu.
$5
#Igave5
Calling all former students of Stacy Branham to consider contributing $5 to show your support. Every donation, no matter the amount, makes a difference! . . . #igave5 Unlocking Challenge! When we receive 100 donations of $5 or more, an additional $500 will be unlocked!
$25
Supporter of AccessUCI
Every 4 donations of $25 enables us to hire media support for hosting a digitally accessible workshop, including hybrid event access, sign language interpreters, professional captioning of recorded event talks, and so much more.
$50
Friend of AccessUCI
Every 2 donations of $50 enables us to hire service providers for hosting a physically accessible workshop, including renting an accessible venue space, transportation assistance, print braille reading materials, and so much more.
$150
Ally of AccessUCI
Just 10 donations of $150 enables us to host around 100 attendees at our flagship workshop, which takes place in person on UC Irvine’s campus every Spring.
$250
Advocate of AccessUCI
Every 2 donations of $250 enables us to send another high school scholar to an educational conference, where they can present their research project and network with potential mentors.
$500
Champion of AccessUCI
Every $500 donation enables us to recruit a highly accomplished STEM leader with a disability to give a keynote presentation and mentor our students one-on-one.
$1,000
Hero of AccessUCI
Every $1,000 enables us to sponsor a graduate student to conduct regular assessments of our programming to ensure our interventions are evidence-based and impactful.
$2,000
Superhero of AccessUCI
Every $2,000 enables us to sponsor one additional high school scholar through a year-long research project in a UC Irvine lab and regular meetings with mentors in STEM who share their disability identity.
$5,000
Supernova of AccessUCI
When you donate $5,000 to AccessSTEM, you provide us the resources to not only sustain our existing programming, but to grow. We currently work with 4 OC school districts; with your investment, we can expand to lower-resource districts and start building bridges into STEM for students with disabilities from all backgrounds!
