Abstract
European universities must face the challenge of diversity and design inclusive practices to address it as part of their social responsibility. However, not all universities are doing the same in terms of diversity practices, so it is important to gather the perceptions of the protagonists. To this end, we have analysed university faculty’s perceptions using a mixed model with a concurrent methodological strategy, including an ad hoc questionnaire validated with 880 educators, as well as 17 semi‐structured interviews. The triangulation of these two instruments allowed us to analyse three key dimensions associated with the idea of attention to diversity in the university: diversity concept or culture, policies and programmes of the institution, and inclusive educational practices. The conclusion is that faculty members are positively predisposed to get involved in the process of attention to diversity in all three dimensions, especially in the design of inclusive teaching practices such as the UDL (universal design for learning), although they do point out that it is important to systematise diversity policies in research, innovation, and teaching to keep promoting the social commitment and responsibility of higher education institutions.
Highlights
IntroductionSocial Inclusion, 2021, Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 106–116 mental human right based on an egalitarian society, and it requires the design of policies, strategies, processes, and actions to guarantee the success of all students
Achieving educational inclusion to alleviate social inequalities is one of the main aspirations of the dif‐ ferent European higher education systems, and has become a societal priority (European Commission, 2010; Eurydice, 2011).Despite the controversial discourse surrounding the implementation of inclusive educational models— focusing on the rationale for and realisation of inclusion—inclusive education is undoubtedly a funda‐Social Inclusion, 2021, Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 106–116 mental human right based on an egalitarian society, and it requires the design of policies, strategies, processes, and actions to guarantee the success of all students
universal design for learning (UDL) contributes to the signifi‐ cant implementation of inclusion to improve learning for all university students, which in turn contributes to the improvement of faculty practices, enhanced by univer‐ sity policies that follow these inclusive principles
Summary
Social Inclusion, 2021, Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 106–116 mental human right based on an egalitarian society, and it requires the design of policies, strategies, processes, and actions to guarantee the success of all students. This is the only vision of education that promotes social justice, against traditional segregated education (Dyson, 1999; Moriña, 2017). Higher education must be a referent for the develop‐ ment of an inclusive education model that integrates equality, equity, accessibility, and excellence (Benet, 2020) All of these aspects are reflected in a learning model based on the universal design for learning (UDL) methodology, which makes it possible to adapt and trans‐ form educational practices to make them accessible to all university students. UDL contributes to the signifi‐ cant implementation of inclusion to improve learning for all university students, which in turn contributes to the improvement of faculty practices, enhanced by univer‐ sity policies that follow these inclusive principles
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