Access and Participation of Students with Disabilities: The Challenge for Higher Education
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Conceptualisation
3. Results, State of Play, Access, and Participation of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education
4. Method
4.1. Search Strategy
4.2. Selection Criteria
4.3. Literature Selection
4.4. Data Extraction and Analysis
5. Results
6. Discussion
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- Infrastructure: Students with disabilities present educational needs that must be addressed for them to successfully access education, as the existence of these barriers can impede accessibility for these students [35,45,51]. Architectural or infrastructural barriers are the most common access barriers for students with disabilities. This may be since university facilities are mostly old buildings, therefore, their spaces are not adapted to the needs of students [50], affecting their mobility.
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- Teaching–learning process: Studies highlight several barriers to learning. Among them, the lack of preparation of teachers to use a methodology that promotes inclusion in the classroom according to the needs of their students stands out [39]. These results coincide with other studies that have been carried out on the lack of teacher training to cater for these students in higher education [52,53]. They also mention the difficulties of access to material resources, since in most cases they are not adapted to their needs or are limited [34,40,46,54].
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- In this line, and to answer the third research question posed, the way to facilitate a successful access to university education for these students, the following aspects must be addressed:
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- Infrastructure: Students with disabilities demand multiple supports related to access to higher education, mainly related to access and mobility on campus. The elimination of the different architectural barriers, such as the absence of spaces reserved for people with disabilities, the absence of ramps, inadequate signage, or acoustic barriers in classrooms, will facilitate the movement and permanence of these students at the university [30,42,48].
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- Teaching–learning process: It is necessary to generate a new organisational response in the attention to diversity and in teacher training [33,49]. Current trends in education point out that all students can be included in education through inclusion programmes, despite their educational needs, offering different opportunities to these students [55], promoting methodological changes in university institutions, and fostering inclusive education. Among these, the incorporation of Universal Design for Learning stands out to increase the participation of these students [50], as most of the resources and materials are not adapted to their needs. This would allow them to work with the rest of their classmates. Recent studies highlight the incorporation of information and communication technologies as potentially beneficial tools for the inclusion and participation of students with disabilities [36].
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- On the other hand, to promote the training of teaching staff in the acquisition of competences to cater for the diversity of their students, training courses, and the modification of the specific training plans that are developed in the different universities are necessary [56], which are usually scarce or nonexistent.
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- Institutional management: All students present difficulties during the educational process, therefore, it is necessary to provide assistance services for students with disabilities, in order to offer specialised support and guidance to these students [44]. Thus, assistance services for students with disabilities should be created in all university institutions, or at least, the possibility for all students who need it to have a person or scholar to help them with their integration into the university [31,47].
7. Conclusions
Limitations and Future Studies
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Study | Year | Method | Disability Type | Country | Main Topic |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moriña Díez and Molina Romo [30] | 2011 | Qualitative | Hearing, visual, physical, and intellectual disabilities | Spain | Barriers to university access |
Nava-Caballero [31] | 2011 | Qualitative | Hearing, visual, physical, and intellectual disabilities | Spain | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Ryan [32] | 2011 | Qualitative | Not specified | Australia | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Ocampo González [33] | 2012 | Quantitative | Not specified | Chile | Barriers to university access |
Opini [34] | 2012 | Qualitative | Not specified | Canada | Barriers to university access |
McEwan and Downie [35] | 2013 | Quantitative | Intellectual disability | Canada | Barriers to university access |
Zubillaga del Río et al. [36] | 2013 | Quantitative | Not specified | Spain | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Kendall and Tarman [37] | 2016 | Qualitative | Hearing impaired | UK | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Palma et al. [38] | 2016 | Qualitative | Hearing, visual, physical, and intellectual disability | Chile | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Heiman et al. [39] | 2017 | Quantitative | Not specified | Israel | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Alsalem and Abu Doush [40] | 2018 | Qualitative | Not specified | Jordan | Barriers to university access |
Majoko and Dunn [41] | 2018 | Qualitative | ASD, physical, hearing, and visual disability. | South Africa | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
Rodríguez Molina & Valenzuela Zambrano [42] | 2019 | Qualitative | Physical, visual disability, and ASD | Chile | Barriers in access to university |
Ansay and Moreira [43] | 2020 | Qualitative | Physical disability | Chile | Barriers in access to university |
Yusof et al. [44] | 2020 | Qualitative | Physical and visual disability | Malaysia | Barriers to access and adaptation |
Braun & Naami [45] | 2021 | Qualitative | Physical disability | USA | Barriers in access to university |
Dreyer [46] | 2021 | Qualitative | Learning disability | South Africa | Barriers in access to university |
Newman et al. [47] | 2021 | Quantitative | Intellectual disability and hearing impairments | USA | Barriers in access to university |
Shpigelman et al. [48] | 2021 | Qualitative | Physical, visual, hearing, and intellectual disabilities. | Israel | Barriers in access to university |
Valle-Flórez et al. [49] | 2021 | Quantitative | Hearing, visual, physical, and intellectual disabilities. | Spain | Facilitating factors in access and adaptation |
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Fernández-Batanero, J.M.; Montenegro-Rueda, M.; Fernández-Cerero, J. Access and Participation of Students with Disabilities: The Challenge for Higher Education. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 11918. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911918
Fernández-Batanero JM, Montenegro-Rueda M, Fernández-Cerero J. Access and Participation of Students with Disabilities: The Challenge for Higher Education. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(19):11918. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911918
Chicago/Turabian StyleFernández-Batanero, José María, Marta Montenegro-Rueda, and José Fernández-Cerero. 2022. "Access and Participation of Students with Disabilities: The Challenge for Higher Education" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 19: 11918. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911918