Abstract
This article maps a journey of political and policy change in the response towards disabled students studying in British higher education: changes which were underpinned by dominant perceptions about disability. Findings are drawn from an analysis of archival material linked to UK legislative and policy development, together with key informant data, which included the views of senior policy staff and disabled people. Recent changes in the response towards disabled students incorporate findings from an in-depth study at a case study university, which involved extensive interviewing of staff members and disabled students. It is argued that disability was perceived as a welfare issue within higher education policy and provision and, consequently, disabled students were treated differently to other groups who were viewed as experiencing inequality, for example, women and people from ethnic minorities. The failure to understand disability in terms of equality and rights, and as a form of oppression, meant that the inequality and the lack of inclusion experienced by disabled students remained unchallenged until more recent legislative developments.
Highlights
The political response towards disabled people radically changed in Britain during the last two decades: from a welfare and needs-led focus to a rights-led focus
The importance of securing legislation in tackling the inequality and exclusion experienced by disabled people within higher education became increasingly visible over the past two decades
Persuasion alone failed to secure equality and inclusion for disabled students and the case study data exemplified that it was legislative pressure that eventually brought about a process of change: a change from a needsbased to a rights-based focus
Summary
The political response towards disabled people radically changed in Britain during the last two decades: from a welfare and needs-led focus (based on care and compensation) to a rights-led focus (based on equality and inclusion). The marginalization of disabled people perpetuated because of the dominant perception of disability held throughout society: a perception which viewed disability as personal inadequacy, inability and abnormality, a view which was contested by disabled activists and academics in the UK (Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation 1976; Finkelstein 1980; Oliver 1990, 1996). From this perspective disabled people were not restricted by their impairment, but by institutional, environmental and organizational barriers. The analytical process of revealing legislative and policy objectives for disabled people is important in ascertaining dominant approaches towards them and furthering understanding of those barriers which worked to exclude and those initiatives which worked to include them in society
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