Draft of Statement of Purpose for PhD application

Prompt

Statement of Purpose (1200 words max)

This essay will assist both the admissions committee and fellowship review committees to evaluate your preparation for the proposed field of study. In your statement of purpose, please describe your aptitude and motivation for graduate study in your area of specialization.

A sample of topics that you might address in your statement is below:

• Academic plans and research interests

• Relevant Experience

• Future career goals

• Why <SCHOOL> would be a good intellectual fit for you

Draft Outline1: (Oct'24; Mar'25)

• My purpose for pursuing a Ph.D. in disabilities and technology is fairly clear to me:

  • I know the mission, but I am still trying to find my work:

    • Mission: Close unemployed and underemployment gaps for people with disabilities

    • Reason: It’s unconscionable that there are so many arbitrary barriers, and absolutely necessary that we have more people with disabilities building the technology to support us all. “Nothing about us without us”

  • I have found the divide is complicated and that having a disability can add extra challenges at any stage of societal participation.

  • I also found that most resources to help with disabilities are often not set up for people with disabilities - often targeted for caretakers, educators, or engineers - which is also needed, but this needs to change too ("nothing about us without us!")

  • To solve anything, I need to understand it better. And I hope to make it easier for others, esp. for people with disabilities, to build bridges and help close the gaps too.

• Academic plans and research interests

  • I want to work on stuff like this: Simona Manni and Belen Barros Pena / Neuro-diversifying tech ... #id24 2024

    • Major impact to understanding the user, to the product/design/engineering, but also to the participants (Participatory design!)

  • Or like Accessible Community, helping others make accessible things

  • AI and Disabilities - esp. combatting biased algorithms (see book "Weapons of Math Destruction" and "More than a Glitch" - attended AccessBoard's webex (see blog)

  • Overlap of Physical and Digital and Web Accessibility - the disconnect of which can actually cause disabilities and barriers and biased social expectations

  • The Neurodiversity movement and Universal design (age in place, right to repair, etc)

  • Assistive Tech and Adaptive strategies (Adaptive tech!)

• Relevant Experience

  • Service: AC+Shine, adaptive skiing

    • AC: accessibility kb that is accessible (like a friendly text book); user research for accessibility checklists redesign; CSUN presentation and accessible escape room;

    • SHINE: website redesign

  • Adaptive ski programs - Ignight Eldora, CO; NSCD Winter Park, CO

• Education: MHCID and BSVC; Certs

  • MHCID - UCI

    • my goal for this was to build UX and software that is so intuitive that is helps people connect, breaking down the connection walls, and now I know what walls. I believe "we build better when we build for everyone". I belive that misue of the 80/20 rule has led people to overlook that "the 20% often has use cases that covers everyone"

  • BSVC - MOP design (we are more than the sum of our parts)

• Career: Software engineering and accessibility requirements, end-to-end UX, user participation, self-service enablement

  • ServiceNow

  • Ball Aerospace

• Future career goals

  • continue service, but get paid for it lol

  • I want to contribute to the understanding and to the ways of understanding how to allow people with disabilities to use technology and fully participate in society.

  • Empathic Equity + Adaptive Tech

  • Reluctantly, AI, but only if I have to

  • The Goal is a more accessible world that is more accepting of disabilities – (hypothesis: this will reduce the number of people suffering with disabilties)

• Why <School> would be a good intellectual fit for you