May 9, 2011
Thurston speaks at U.N. session on status of women
Linda P. Thurston, professor of special education and assistant dean of the College of Education, spoke recently at the United Nations' 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Her topic was the relevance of STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- careers for women with disabilities and programmatic issues related to developing and maintaining success in STEM education for girls/women with disabilities.
Thurston, currently on leave from K-State, is serving as a program officer at the National Science Foundation in the Research in Disabilities Education program. In addition to course work on disabilities at K-State, she teaches in the women's studies program and is the founding director of the office of educational innovation and evaluation.
Globally women make up three-fourths of persons with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Thurston and other session presenters highlighted the importance of including women with disabilities and the gender perspective in mainstreaming disability in development as the missing link in the development agenda.