Racial/ethnic information
Information about persons with disabilities

This report draws on information from many sources. As a result, the data presented may not have been collected using comparable terminology or concepts. Efforts have been made to maintain consistency throughout this text, but in some data reporting, it has been necessary to use distinct terminology that does not match that used in other compilations. In other instances, the same terminology has been used throughout, even though the underlying concept differs from source to source, as is the case for disability status.

Racial/ethnic information 

Data collection on and reporting of the race/ethnicity of individuals pose several challenges. First, both the naming of population subgroups and their definitions have changed over time. Second, many of the groups of particular interest are quite small, so it is difficult to measure them accurately without universe surveys. In some instances, sample surveys may not have been of sufficient scope to permit calculation of reliable racial/ethnic population estimates; consequently, results are not shown for all groups. The U.S. Bureau of the Census's Current Population Survey, for example, cannot provide data on American Indians. Data on this population are available from the decennial census. Third, it is easy to overlook or minimize heterogeneity within subgroups when only a single statistic is reported for a total racial/ethnic group. Fourth, data on race/ethnicity are often based on self-identification. These data are less reliable for certain racial/ethnic groups than for others. Data collected at two points in time indicate that self-identification of American Indians is much less reliable than self-identification of other racial/ethnic groups.[1]

Information about persons with disabilities 

Data on persons with disabilities in S&E are seriously limited for several reasons. First, the operational definitions of disability vary and include a wide range of physical and mental conditions. Different sets of data have used different definitions and thus are not totally comparable. The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) encouraged progress toward standard definitions. Under ADA, an individual is considered to have a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. ADA also contains definitions of specific disabilities.

Second, data about disabilities frequently are not included in comprehensive institutional records (e.g., in registrar records in institutions of higher education). If included at all in institutional records, such information is likely to be kept only in confidential files at an office responsible for providing special services to students. Institutions are unlikely to have information regarding any persons with disabilities who have not requested special services. In the case of elementary/secondary school programs receiving funds to provide special education, however, counts for the entire student population identified as having special needs are centrally available.

Third, information on persons with disabilities gathered from surveys is often obtained from self-reported responses. Typically, respondents are asked if they have a disability and to specify what kind of disability it is. Resulting data therefore reflect individual perceptions rather than objective measures.

An example—the attempt to provide estimates of the proportion of the undergraduate student population with disabilities—shows how these factors coalesce. Self-reported data from the undergraduate student population, queried on a survey to ascertain patterns of student financial aid, suggest that about 10 percent of this population has some disability. Estimates from population surveys of higher education institutions, in contrast, place the estimate much lower, between 1 and 5 percent. Whether this discrepancy is the result of self-perception, incomplete reporting, nonevident disabilities, or differing definitions is difficult to ascertain.

In the final analysis, although considerable information is available on persons with disabilities and their status in the educational system and in the S&E workforce, it is often not possible to compare the numbers of persons with disabilities from different sources.

Several sources are used in this report for data on persons with disabilities. They include four surveys conducted by the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); the American Council on Education-University of California–Los Angeles Survey of the American Freshman: National Norms; NSF's Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) and the three Scientists and Engineers Statistics Data System (SESTAT) surveys; and the U.S. Bureau of the Census's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). These sources are described in more detail later in this appendix; following is a brief description of how each survey treats the issue of disability.

• NCES surveys. Four NCES surveys collect information on disability—the National Education Longitudinal Study, Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, Baccalaureate and Beyond Study, and National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). Text table A-1 provides a quick comparison of the disability-related information collected by these surveys.
  
  
• Survey of the American Freshman: National Norms. The National Norms survey conducted by the American Council on Education and the University of California–Los Angeles asks if the student has a disability and, if so, whether the student has a disability such as hearing, speech, orthopedic, learning disability, health related, or other. The student is asked to mark all that apply.
  
  
• NSF surveys. The NSF surveys, the SED and the SESTAT surveys, provide individual respondents' answers. The SED asks if the respondent has a disability, then asks the respondent to mark what category applies to the disability. The SESTAT surveys ask the degree of difficulty—none, slight, moderate, severe, or unable to do—a person with a disability(ies) may have in performing life activities. Those respondents who answered moderate, severe, or unable to do for any activity were classified as disabled. Text table A-2 compares SED and SESTAT treatment of disability.
  
  
• Survey of Income and Program Participation. The disability supplements that have been asked in the Census Bureau's SIPP were designed to be consistent with the ADA definition of disability. The supplements obtain information on the ability to perform specific functional activities (seeing, hearing, having one's speech understood, lifting and carrying, climbing stairs, and walking); certain ADLs, or activities of daily living (getting around inside the home, getting in and out of a bed or chair, bathing, dressing, eating, and toileting), and certain IADLs, or instrumental activities of daily living (going outside the home, keeping track of money and bills, preparing meals, doing light housework, taking prescription medicines in the right amount at the right time, and using the telephone). The survey also collects information on the use of such special aids as wheelchairs and canes, the presence of certain conditions related to mental functioning, and the ability to work at a job or business.

In SIPP, people 15 years old and over were identified as having a disability if they met any of the following criteria:

• Used a wheelchair or were a long-term user of a cane, crutches, or a walker
  
  
• Had difficulty performing one or more functional activities (seeing, hearing, speaking, lifting/carrying, using stairs, or walking)
  
  
• Had difficulty with one or more activities of daily living
  
  
• Had difficulty with one or more instrumental activities of daily living (the IADLs included going outside the home, keeping track of money and bills, preparing meals, doing light housework, taking prescription medicines in the right amount at the right time, and using the telephone)
  
  
• Had one or more specified conditions (a learning disability, mental retardation or another developmental disability, Alzheimer's disease, or some other type of mental or emotional condition)
  
  
• Were limited in their ability to do housework
  
  
• Were 16 to 67 years old and limited in their ability to work at a job or business
  
  
• Were receiving Federal benefits based on an inability to work
  
  People age 15 and over were identified as having a severe disability if they were unable to perform one or more functional activities; needed personal assistance with an ADL or IADL; used a wheelchair; were a long-term user of a cane, crutches, or a walker; had a developmental disability or Alzheimer's disease; were unable to do housework; were receiving Federal disability benefits; or were 16 to 67 years old and unable to work at a job or business.