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 An estimated 4 million working age people in the U.S. are deaf
or hard of hearing (D/HoH). In the most recent study by the
U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education
Statistics (2007-08), of D/HoH individuals in the labor force,
15.5% were employed in STEM occupations (compared to 17.9% of
individuals who are hearing). However, there were major
differences in the types of STEM positions in which the two
groups were employed. A higher percentage of hearing
individuals were working in computer and medical fields, while
D/HoH individuals were working in construction, mechanical and
agricultural areas.
Although underemployed compared to their hearing peers, with
appropriate job skills and access to resources, D/HoH
individuals represent a significant pool of potential
employees in more highly skilled STEM fields, including ICT!
How can more D/HoH people gain access to the resources and
training required for these highly skilled positions? In the
2007-08 study there were an estimated 137,000 D/HoH students
enrolled in postsecondary schools in the U.S. Of those, 43%
were enrolled in 4-year institutions, compared to 52% of
hearing students, while the percentage of D/HoH students in
STEM majors at those institutions was comparable to their
hearing peers (17% versus18%).
In 2-year institutions, the percentage of D/HoH students was
actually higher than hearing students (55% compared to 46%),
and significantly more D/HoH students than hearing students
majored in STEM fields (13.2% compared to 9.7%). However,
among the most popular STEM fields, there were proportionally
fewer D/HoH students at both 4-year and 2-year colleges
majoring in computer and information sciences.
Although a significant number of D/HoH students entered
postsecondary programs, after six year's persistence at
college, only 5.5% earned an associate degree and 12% earned a
baccalaureate degree. This compares to 10% of hearing students
earning an associate degree and 29% earning a baccalaureate
degree. In terms of the overall population of D/HoH
individuals, only 5% earned any college degree at all,
compared to 28% for the general population.
How can we have an impact on these statistics, and encourage
more D/HoH students to study and seek employment in skilled
STEM fields, including computer-related fields? One option is
the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, one of the 8
colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology. NTID was
established in 1965 to reverse the long history of under- and
un-employment among our nation’s D/HoH citizens. RIT is a
prominent four-year technical university in Rochester, N.Y. It
is the 12th largest private university in the U.S., and the
3rd largest producer in the U.S. of baccalaureate degrees in
the STEM disciplines.
NTID was the first, and remains the only, technical college in
the U.S. for D/HoH students, and it enrolls more than 1,200 of
those students from 49 states and 17 countries. NTID students
are enrolled in associate degree programs at the college,
which articulate with baccalaureate degree programs in other
RIT colleges. In addition to hundreds of technical majors for
D/HoH students, NTID also offers a variety of resources and
outreach programs that serve these students, their educators
and employers, across the country.
The Information and Computing Studies (ICS) Department at NTID
offers more than 38 information
technology courses in its 2-year associate degree program in
Applied Computer Technology. The ICS department is currently
completing an NSF ATE grant (#0602761) that established a
dual-credit program at NTID called Project Fast Forward to
increase the number of D/HoH students interested in pursuing a
post-secondary education in a computer-related field.
Currently, 15 high schools across the country in California,
Florida, Maryland, New York, Texas and Virginia are offering
dual-credit courses in IT. If you are interested in partnering
with Project Fast Forward to offer dual-credit courses for
your D/HoH students, please contact the principal
investigators through the project website at
www.rit.edu/forward.
D/HoH students in mainstreamed classrooms can pose a variety
of challenges. If you have D/HoH students in your classroom,
you may find the Class Act website helpful (www.rit.edu/ntid/drt/classact).
This site contains information intended to improve existing
teaching practices to improve learning for D/HoH students. The
website has examples of challenges you may face in working
with these students, and suggests strategies to address those
challenges. The principles of universal design that form the
foundation for these resources can improve access to learning
for all students in a classroom.
NTID boasts a 94% placement rate for its graduates over the
past five years. If you are interested in hiring a
well-trained, highly-qualified D/HoH student, contact the NTID
Center on Employment through its website at
www.ntid.rit.edu/nce.
The NCE website offers resources for helping employers and
co-workers develop the sensitivity and skills that enable D/HoH
and hearing colleagues to work together successfully, and it
provides assistance to employers before, during and after
hiring a D/HoH employee.
Members of the NTID faculty are currently putting these
resources, along with others, into a proposal to ATE for a
National Center for Excellence to advance technological
education for D/HoH students. Stay tuned for information on
this National Center, which, if funded, will bring together
and disseminate all of these resources for improving D/HoH
students’ successful entry into STEM careers. If
you have any feedback on
how this center could help
support D/HoH students in
your area, please contact
Principal Investigators,
Donna Lange or Myra Pelz.
Back to Q2 2010
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