Investigating the Teaching Experiences of Psychology Graduate Students With Disabilities: A Qualitative Study

Purpose/Objective: Graduate students and faculty with disabilities are underrepresented in psychology and face many barriers in graduate education and training. Teaching is a major component of graduate training and faculty preparation, but there is a dearth of research on the teaching experiences of psychology graduate students with disabilities. The objective of this study was to explore the teaching experiences of psychology graduate students with disabilities. Research Method/Design: We conducted semistructured interviews with 12 disabled psychology graduate students who had teaching experience as part of their graduate programs. Interviews were analyzed using phenomenological coding. Results: Common themes among participants were lack of disability disclosure; lack of accommodations for teaching and guidance of how to receive them; and supportive and nonsupportive resources and mentors in their graduate teaching experiences. Conclusions/Implications: Disabled graduate student teachers often lack environments and resources where they can receive disability-specific support and accommodations for teaching. Faculty and programs should develop and promote disability-affirmative training cultures that actively support graduate student teachers with disabilities, including departmental cultures that de-stigmatize disability disclosure and accommodations. Impact and Implications This is the first known study to investigate the teaching experiences of psychology graduate students with disabilities specifically. Participants in the study reported numerous disability-related barriers in their teaching experiences, including faculty and institutional ignorance of accommodations and stigma surrounding disability; however, they also reported positive experiences in the form of supportive mentors and peers. Graduate programs must promote and provide disability-affirmation and access in co-curricular programmatic activities, including teaching, as well as coursework for students with disabilities.