Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 19(2), Apr 2026, 109-119; doi:10.1037/dhe0000639
Neurodivergent individuals are those whose brains engage the world in ways that society considers atypical. As with disabled individuals, they are often un- or underemployed, may need additional accommodations at places of employment, and experience high rates of ableism. While beginning to do a better job in supporting neurodivergent students, academia has often left neurodivergent faculty out of conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion and often fails to address how faculty can be supported in succeeding while being their full authentic selves. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of neurodivergent faculty in U.S. higher education. We conducted 23 qualitative semistructured interviews, coded the transcripts, and organized these codes into themes using a virtual tabletop coding method. We structured the codes into seven themes: (1) neurophobia as systemic oppression (including subthemes obstruction of access and accommodations and impact of enforced masking); (2) navigating the nexus of identities; (3) complexity of outness; (4) labors of communication; (5) “neurophoria” and the brilliance of neurodivergence; (6) community connection and advocacy; and (7) shared wisdom. Across disciplines (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, humanities, social sciences), type of faculty role (i.e., tenure track, clinical, adjunct), type of institution (i.e., public vs. private, size), and a variety of other identities (i.e., race, gender, age), there were many shared experiences by participants. Institutions of higher education must be better prepared to support neurodivergent faculty, including integrating models of universal design, removing barriers for accessing accommodations, dismantling expectations of neurotypical communication, and recognizing the many strengths of these faculty. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)