UC Irvine Giving Day

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 workshops create a space where disabled high school students and their teachers can connect with disabled faculty, staff, and students at UC Irvine.

 

We bring in inspirational role models, like Professor Nicholas Giudice, who show that disabled people lead the way in STEM. 

 
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.