Disabled Students In Higher Education Research Articles

Disabled students: identity, inclusion and work-based placements

Research about disabled identity reflects diverse perspectives on the merits and challenges associated with such an identity. This paper explores the impact of disabled identity on the inclusion of disabled students in higher education and employment contexts. It considers their experiences of inclusion in a university setting and its associated work-based placements and discusses the extent to which students had to negotiate a range of experiences of disabled identity. The paper suggests that many disabled students, especially those with behaviour-related impairment labels, are subject to continued exclusion in university and, more particularly, work settings, and this contributes to an employment disadvantage compared with their peers. To this end, the paper highlights the importance of enhancing inclusion for disabled students, especially in employment settings, through a focus on reducing destructive identities.

Not the right kind of ‘digital capital’? An examination of the complex relationship between disabled students, their technologies and higher education institutions

The paper focuses on disabled students in higher education (HE) and their use of technologies to support their learning. Disabled students commonly report that they feel they have to work harder than other students because they have to manage both their disability and their study. Access to and accessibility of technologies affects how well disabled students manage this workload. Data were collected from disabled students in a teaching-intensive university in UK using an online questionnaire survey and a follow-up semi-structured interview. A ‘digital capital’ framework was used to explore the relationship between disabled students and their technologies and examine the potential complexities of this relationship in more detail.Our results show that while disabled students do have access to social and cultural resources; sometimes these resources are not appropriate or effective (e.g. school-based ICT qualifications) or they are not drawing on all the possible resources available to them (e.g. non-institutional based support or support from disabled students). This means that disabled students can lack the ‘right’ kind of digital capital to enable them to succeed within HE environments. These findings have implications for how HE institutions conceptualise and organise technology related support services for disabled students.

La integración educativa y social del alumnado con discapacidad en el EEES: Universidad de Bolonia

Today, the European university is faced with the challenge of promoting effective care to students with disabilities within their institutions, for which the set of ideas and attitudes of members of the university community is crucial. In this line, and continuing previous research in other European countries, there is the initiative to conduct this study in a context traditionally inclusive as it is the Italian one, analyzing the notions that students have about the integration and attention to their peers with disabilities. The subjects of the study were 272 students from the Faculty of Education at the University of Bologna (Italy). The results are reflected globally and in terms of categories of analysis that highlight the main indicators of attention to disability in college. At the same time a comparative analysis of subgroups has been made according to different variables and from the issues raised by the respondents a qualitative interpretation was carried out in order to evaluate the influence of Italian university context in the perception of students about integration of students with disabilities. After the analyses, we conclude that, overall, participating students from the University of Bologna have some favoral ideas and attitudes towards education and social integration of students with disabilities. Nevertheless, even though institutional approaches are advancing at a good pace in theory, collective integration of disabled students in higher education is a task that is still to be concluded at the University of Bologna.

Personalized Adaptive Networked Learning for Disabled Students & Social Networking for the Inclusion of students – The Multimedu tool

The Multimedia Education tool (Multimedu tool) is a web-based integrated system that “accumulates” information, in any form: video, audio, text, picture, documents. It is based on the contribution of academic collaborative networked communities, and makes the multimedia material accessible and available to everyone through a Terms Dictionary and a Multimedia Library. It also supports social networking. The Multimedu system facilitates personalized communication and supports learning and inclusion of disabled students in Higher Education. Services based on the Multimedu system can be offered to the disabled and other students in the mainstream class, in the parallel “assistive” classes, and in the labs. Distance learning is supported in synchronous mode. Asynchronous and online services are offered by the integrated multilingual multimedia dictionary of terms.

From Policy to Practice in Higher Education: The experiences of disabled students in Norway

Knowledge about disabled students in higher education is fragmented. It is therefore difficult to assess whether policy goals actually promote better conditions for disabled students. The aim of this article is to take a closer look at the experiences of disabled students in Norway and, in light of policy goals, to identify obstacles in the higher education system. This study is based on qualitative data from in-depth interviews with disabled students in higher education. The findings indicate that an educational reform in Norwegian higher education seems to have helped to strengthen disabled tertiary students’ potential for learning, but there are a number of critical periods during their studies when it is imperative for disabled students to get the adjustment needed.

Perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying among disabled and nondisabled students in distance education

There is little systematic evidence on the experience of disabled students in higher education. In this study, equal numbers of disabled and nondisabled students taking courses with the UK Open University were surveyed with regard to their approaches to studying and perceptions of the academic quality of their courses. Students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties, students with mental health difficulties and students with fatigue were more likely to exhibit a surface approach, and less likely to exhibit organised studying, than were nondisabled students. In the first two groups, this was associated with lower ratings of the quality of their courses. Nevertheless, the differences were not large, either in absolute terms or in the proportion of variance in the students’ scores that they explained. The impact of disability on students’ perceptions of the academic quality of their courses and on their approaches to studying appears to be relatively slight.

Hearing the voices of disabled students in higher education

Since the return of the Labour government to power in the UK in 1997 issues of social inclusion have risen up the political and statutory agenda within higher education (HE). This study reports the findings of disabled students lived experiences and views of transition from induction through to employability within one HE institution. The study examined the perspectives of disabled students via a questionnaire and face‐to‐face interviews. It found that there was still much work to be done in levelling HE experiences for disabled students and identified five key issues that should be addressed in order to enable access and entitlement to HE. These are pre‐course induction support, commitment by HE institutions to facilitating barrier free curricula, consultation with disabled students, institutional commitment to develop support services and embedding of personal development planning.

Social justice, equality and inclusion in Scottish education

Social justice, equality and inclusion are complex and inter-linked concepts and feature prominently in Scottish social policy rhetoric. This paper begins with an overview of the discourses surrounding these concepts and the ways in which they are used in Scottish education policy, which, in general, is founded on principles of universalism. The need for some degree of redistribution has been recognised for certain children, but less attention has been paid to recognising the identity of marginalised groups. Children with additional support needs are seen as a group requiring extra resources, but decisions on the nature of that support and which groups should be prioritised has been left to professionals, with little input from parents or children. Overall, there has been inadequate additional resourcing to support mainstreaming, which has made little progress despite having become the policy orthodoxy. There is also evidence to suggest that categories such as learning disabilities and social emotional and behavioural difficulties are applied disproportionately to children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, cementing rather than challenging their marginalisation. Major beneficiaries of inclusion policies, particularly in relation to disabled students in higher education, are students with a diagnosis of dyslexia, who are particularly likely to be male and middle class. The paper concludes by suggesting that children with additional support needs require more, rather than less, redistribution and recognition, but policies need to be couched within a discourse of rights, rather than individual needs.

Computer‐assisted teaching and assessment of disabled students in higher education: the interface between academic standards and disability rights

Abstract Computer‐assisted teaching and assessment has become a regular feature across many areas of the curriculum in higher education courses around the world in recent years. This development has resulted in the ‘digital divide’ between disabled students and their nondisabled peers regarding their participation in computer‐assisted courses. However, there has been a long‐standing practice to ensure that disabled students could participate in these courses with a set of disability adjustments that are in line with their learning modalities under the headings of presentation format, response format, timing, and setting adjustments. Additionally, there has been a set of supporting antidiscriminatory disability laws around the world to avoid such divide between disabled students and their nondisabled peers. However, following a successful pre cedent in Davis v. Southeastern Community College (1979), the opponents of disability rights have consistently argued that making disability adjustments for disabled students to participate in computer‐assisted courses would undermine academic and professional standards and these laws have resulted in a ‘culture of fear’ among the staff. This paper challenges such myths and argues, based on a systematic review of four major antidiscriminatory laws, that universities have full academic freedom to set the academic standards of their computer‐assisted courses despite the introduction of such laws and that there has been no grounds for the perceived culture of fear about the consequences of the participation of disabled students in computer‐assisted courses.

Managerialism and equalities: tensions within widening access policy and practice for disabled students in UK universities

This paper draws on a four-year longitudinal ESRC funded project examining learning experiences of disabled students in higher education in four universities. The focus here is on institutional responses to the demands of audit culture and legislation in relation to making reasonable adjustments for students with impairments. The data comes from institutional documents and face-to-face interviews with key informants within the institutions. The findings indicate that quality assurance regimes and legislation have had some positive effect on improving access for disabled students; however, local factors and type of institution also have a major impact on the way that national policies are expressed in particular contexts.

Teaching disabled students in higher education

As the number of disabled students in higher education has increased in recent years, teaching them in compliance with public policy while maintaining academic standards has become a crucial issue. The access of disabled students to programs and to the curriculum are two separate but inter-linked features of such policies. This paper reviews the key features of the major four anti-discrimination laws and outlines the key adjustments to the curriculum for these students that are needed in response. It then outlines and discusses the current research on these adjustments. Four curriculum adjustments are explored: presentation format, response format, timing, and setting. The policy and practice of the curriculum adjustments have implications for academic staff. Research priorities are set out in relation to the attitudes of disabled students, academic staff, managerial or support staff, and non-disabled students.

What counts as a reasonable adjustment? Dyslexic students and the concept of fair assessment

This article focuses on the construction of dyslexia in higher education and explores the nature of negotiations between students, lecturers and academic institutions over diagnosis, support and assessment. Disabled students are now entitled, under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), to reasonable adjustments in assessment. However, there continue to be debates about the nature of dyslexia and the extent to which requests for reasonable adjustments threaten to compromise academic standards. The article begins with a brief overview of the provisions of the DDA and its implications for learning support and adjustments to assessment in higher education, before considering current debates in education over the nature of dyslexia and its implications for assessment in higher education. We then consider the incidence of dyslexia in higher education and the implications of the rapid growth in the number and proportion of disabled students in higher education for assessment practices. Subsequently, we present case studies of dyslexic students and discuss (a) the way in which dyslexia is understood by different actors and (b) institutional responses to claims for reasonable adjustment in teaching and assessment.

New Labour, social justice and disabled students in higher education

This article draws on findings from an Economic and Social Research Council funded research project entitled ‘Disabled Students and Multiple Policy Innovations in Higher Education’ (R000239069). It begins with a brief review of theories of social justice and their implications for widening access policies for disabled students. Social justice may be conceptualised in relation to the distribution of social goods and cultural recognition. Related to distribution, data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency are used to analyse the progress which has been made in expanding the number of disabled students in higher education and the wider social characteristics of disabled students. Related to recognition, the article considers changes which have been made at the institutional level to make the academic environment more conducive to the inclusion of disabled students. It is noted that new public management has often been used as the vehicle for achieving social justice goals. Whilst progress has been made in relation to redistribution and recognition, the adoption of managerialist strategies has had some negative effects. For example, dyslexic students who tend to be male and middle class have been the greatest beneficiaries of the expansion, whereas poorer disabled students and those with more significant impairments have been less likely to be included. In addition, the adoption of a categorical approach for the purposes of social audit does not fit readily with disabled students' conception of self.

Policy and provision for disabled students in higher education in Scotland and England: the current state of play

Higher education in the UK has been through a period of major change since the mid‐1980s. A massive expansion in the number of students has been coupled with a reduction in the unit of resource, increased inter‐institutional competition and greater accountability. Within this demanding context, pressure has also been applied to institutions to improve accessibility for disabled people, through funding council mechanisms, quality assurance procedures and, more recently, changes in legislation. Drawing on the findings of an ESRC‐funded research project, Disabled students and multiple policy innovations in higher education, involving a survey of higher education institutions, the article describes and discusses the current state of policy and provision for disabled students in higher education in Scotland and England. It concludes that, while there are definite signs of progress in the development of provision for disabled students, many areas need much further attention. A particular area of concern is teaching and learning. Effecting real change in this area means addressing questions which challenge conventional notions of effective teaching and learning practice. It is argued that improvements in provision for disabled students in this area would mean improvements for all students. Disability is still seen as a fairly distinct policy area, mainly addressed by student support services. Further significant progress can only be made if disability is embedded into all institutional policies and procedures. Its relocation, particularly in the area of teaching and learning, however, will demand a significant commitment on the part of all institutions.

Creating Enforceable Civil Rights for Disabled Students in Higher Education: An institutional theory perspective

The Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, building on the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, have been relatively effective in securing enforceable civil rights for disabled students in higher education in the United States. In contrast, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 and any related previous pieces of legislation have persistently excluded these students in the United Kingdom, making, by default, any discrimination against them legal. However, the Government has started the legislative rule making process to include higher education under the new legislation, based on the final report of the Select Committee on Education and Employment of House of Commons and the final report of the Disability Rights Task Force. The paper argues that close examination of these reports as well as the Government's most recent consultation paper, 'Rights for Disabled People in Education', reveals a path which is unlike the path that followed during the rulemaking process leading to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. In other words, it is likely that disabled students would continue to be subjected to potential discrimination despite the inclusion of higher education under the new proposed legislation and despite special disability funding provided to universities for disabled students. Disability civil rights advocates have an important role to play in the current rule-making process to create enforceable civil rights for disabled students in higher education.

Getting round obstacles: Disabled students' experiences in higher education in Scotland

ABSTRACT The findings of a study of the experiences of disabled students in higher education in Scotland are reported. Detailed information about policy and provision for disabled students was sought from all higher education institutions and 12 in-depth case studies of students were carried out. It is argued that disabled students face obstacles to their participation in five areas: the physical environment, access to information, entrance to higher education, assumptions of ‘normality˚s and levels of awareness. While support is available, in some cases students are being provided with assistance to get round obstacles that ideally should be removed. Acknowledgement is made of the positive steps that have been taken recently to improve access for disabled students, and the limitations of the current model of provision are discussed.

Chipping away at the mountain: Disabled students' experience of higher education

Within the context of marketisation and managerialism, this article discusses the effects of recent attempts to dismantle the barriers encountered by disabled students in higher education. Exploring statistics compiled by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and drawing on recent Scottish small-scale studies (Baron et al, 1996; Brown et al, 1997; Hall & Tinklin, 1998), it is suggested that although disabled students now have a greater presence in higher education, nonetheless many barriers to full participation remain, and indeed may be reinforced by some initiatives intended to widen access. The article supports Clarke & Newman's contention (1997) that an effect of new managerialism is to sidestep important social, cultural and political problems, leaving these in an unresolved state to be tackled by less powerful people when they encounter them in practice. The barriers met by disabled students are structural in nature, but in the dominant liberal equal opportunities approach means that these are seen by policy makers in individualised and medical terms and therefore the solutions proposed are often inadequate. Initiatives to widen access, rooted in the liberal belief that change will come about through appealing to individual goodwill, have failed to take into account the intensification of labour within higher education and have therefore achieved only limited success.

The Stanley Segal Award: Points from an ethical debate arising from the provision of learning support for disabled students in Higher Education

The winner of the 1996 Stanley Segal Award, Bernard Doherty, Learning Support Co‐ordinator (Disabled Students) at Anglia Polytechnic University, discusses the implications of the provision of adequate support for students with disabilities within Higher Education.

Predicting academic success for disabled students in higher education

Research has indicated that disabled and nondisabled persons experience communication strained by high levels of uncertainty for both communicators. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of being disabled on the academic progress of disabled college students. It was felt that academic success will be contingent upon positive communication with faculty, fellow students, and university personnel. A questionnaire assessing the campus' social climate, the quality of its programs and instruction, and the students' academic and career expectations was administered to 100 disabled students. Analyses of the data revealed that the disabled students' motivation was significantly related to their level of social alienation, while the students' perceived competence was most related to their level of social adjustment. The theoretical implications of these findings and avenues for future research are discussed.