Employee Spotlight: Katie Wang
Katie Wang, Associate Professor and Leader of The Faculty with Disabilities at Yale Interest Group
What is your role at Yale School of Public Health, and what kind of work do you do within your department?
I’m an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. I conduct research examining how stigma affects mental and behavioral health and contributes to health disparities across various populations, with a specific emphasis on people with disabilities. I also teach a course on stigma and health and mentor both MPH and Ph.D. students.
What inspired you to formulate and lead the Faculty with Disabilities at Yale Interest Group? What is its mission, and who does it aim to support?
As someone who has been blind for most of my life, I’m acutely aware that people with disabilities remain significantly under-represented in many academic spaces and that faculty members with disabilities often navigate unique challenges that are not widely discussed. The idea for the Faculty with Disabilities at Yale Interest Group grew out of conversations with my co-chair, Dr. Monkol Lek (Associate Professor of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine), who shares my commitment to improving accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities in academia. Our mission is to build community among faculty with disabilities and allies at Yale, raise awareness of disability-related issues in academic life, and work collaboratively with university leadership to promote a more accessible and inclusive environment. The group aims to support faculty with disabilities across all schools/disciplines and help ensure they can fully participate and thrive in our campus community.
What areas of disability inclusion within faculty culture do you feel remain under-addressed?
One area that remains under-addressed is the relative invisibility of disability within faculty culture. Many disabilities, such as chronic physical and mental health conditions and neurodivergence, are not immediately visible, and faculty members may be hesitant to disclose because of stigma or concerns about how it could affect perceptions of their productivity or competence. There is also still growing awareness around how academic norms, such as expectations around travel, long work hours, or inflexible timelines, can unintentionally create barriers for some faculty with disabilities. Continuing to normalize conversations about disability and accessibility, while designing academic environments with flexibility in mind, can help ensure that talented faculty with disabilities are able to fully participate and thrive.
Have there been moments in your career where your disability identity and professional identity have intersected in powerful ways?
As a stigma and health equity researcher, much of my professional work is closely tied to my personal lived experience as an Asian American woman with a disability. Navigating environments that are not always designed with disability in mind has shaped my commitment to addressing ableism and other intersecting forms of oppression through my research, teaching, and mentoring. I’m also fortunate to be part of an extremely supportive academic community in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, where accessibility and disability inclusion are prioritized in all aspects of our work. Being in this environment has reinforced my belief that, when these principles are embedded into everyday practices, it benefits not only individuals with disabilities but the entire academic community.
For more information about The Faculties with Disabilities at Yale Interest Group, please visit this link: https://facultywithdisabilities.yale.edu/