While there has been considerable work exploring the role of gender on academic careers, and some steps towards understanding race and class, disability remains notable for its absence from the literature. I have been awarded two small grants, the first from the EPSRC career acceleration fund and a second from an Internal Research Grant, both from Heriot-Watt University to research the experiences of disabled academics in Engineering and Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities. The project will begin in January, with data collection in January and February. This is an early call for potential interview participants based in the UK. The interviews will occur face to face (for those in Edinburgh or nearby) or via Skype/telephone. I would like to interview UK based disabled academics across the career span (PhD students, ECR, mid-career and more established academics). For the purpose of this research disability is taken to be: ‘a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities’ (taken from the Equality Act, 2010).
If you are unable to participate in an interview, the questions can be answered via this survey link
Or please email me (k.sang@hw.ac.uk) for the questions as a word document which you can complete at your own pace and return via email.
All interview transcripts will be anonymised to protect the identities of individuals and employing institutions. I anticipate interviews lasting between 40 and 60 minutes, covering career history, the impact of disability and recommendations for employers. The interviews will be used to inform a report for Heriot-Watt University and (hopefully!) resulting publications. The project has secured ethical approval. Data will be securely stored, with raw data only available to me and the professional transcriber.
Please share this call with your colleagues across the Humanities, Social Sciences and Engineering and Physical Sciences (including those eligible to apply for EPSRC funding in other disciplines), and with colleagues in other disciplines.
If you would like to participate (or hear the findings) please contact me at k.sang@hw.ac.uk
Researching Working Life 
I’d love to talk to you about this! I’m in the social sciences, alas, so not in your target group. But I’ve been doing some work on this in the realm of disability studies. See my academia.edu profile at https://soas.academia.edu/NaomiLawsonJacobs – panel discussion abstract, half way down. We presented on this subject at the Disability Studies conference in Lancaster in September. I’d love to stay in touch with any work you do on this. – Naomi Lawson Jacobs