Self-esteem, Social and Affective Outcomes of Students with Special Educational Needs in Tertiary Education

Abstract

The core values of inclusive education (IE) proclaim to provide equal educational opportunities to all students regardless of disabilities or special educational needs (SEN). Nonetheless, there were no consistent indications that IE was beneficial to students with SEN. Despite lacking solid evidence for the efficacy of IE, more and more students with SEN completed their secondary education and pursue their studies in tertiary education. This study was conducted in an institute of tertiary education to investigate psychosocial outcomes of inclusive practice. A total of 91 students with special educational needs participated in this study. Validated outcome measures of global self-esteem, social relationship, and psychological distress were incorporated in a questionnaire for online data collection. Results showed that students with SEN were able to maintain good social relationship with their peers, but their global self-esteem was significantly lower and their psychological distress was higher than their peers without SEN. Students with mental illness or emotional problems were most vulnerable to academic stress of tertiary education, whereas students with physical and sensory impairments were very well adjusted and their psychosocial outcomes were not significantly different from their pees without SEN. Findings of the study were discussed and implications of the findings for IE research considered.