Students with impairment – are they disabled in higher education ?

Students with impairment – are they disabled in higher education?

«Building bridges», Stockholm 2014

PhD-candidate Eli Langørgen,Sør-Trøndelag University College (HIST) and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU),Trondheim, Norway

Background

Human rights: People with impairments have the same rights and should have the same opportunities to participate as everyone else – in all social arenas

Laws and regulations in higher education in Norway: Educational institutions are obliged to accommodate individual needs

– As far as possible and reasonable- As far as it does not compromise the “professional standard “

Eli Langørgen Sør-Trøndelag University College, Trondheim, Norway

What do we know?

• Higher education is important for promoting labour participation

• Number of people with impairments in higher education proportionally low

• Growing number of students with disabilities in higher education: Many with invisible impairments

• Several experience barriers in their academic and everyday life


the world is not «one-size-fits-all»

What else do we know….?

• Many are reluctant to disclose their disability and ask for accommodations

• Students in vocational educations face disclosure and accommodation issues several times during professional placement

• Differences in educational institutions’ will to adjust: – How to do….?– What is necessary and reasonable?– When is professional standard compromised?

Eli LangørgenSør-Trøndelag University College, Trondheim, Norway

Aim of the project

Contribute to the knowledge of facilitators and barriers to participation of students with disabilities in teaching, health, and social work bachelor programmes


Research methods

Potential informants: Students with impairments, university/college staff and professional placement supervisors

Triangulation of methods: – Individual interviews with students– Focus groups with staff and supervisors– Surveys to all three informant groups

Part 1: Asking students - interviews

Part 1: Asking students - interviews

• Research question: How do students with impairments experience the transition to and throughout their bachelor programmes?

• Approach: Individual semistructured in-depth interviews

• Informants: 8-12 students with impairments in teaching, social work or health care educations who are on professional placement as part of curriculum

• Purposeful sampling

• Population: Students with impairments attending the university colleges in the Mid-Norwegian region (Trøndelag counties)


Part 2: Asking staff and supervisors focus groups

Part 2: Asking staff and supervisors focus groups

• Research question: What are the perspectives of educational staff and placement supervisors on supporting students with impairments?

• Approach: Focus group interviews

• Informants: Faculty staff and placement supervisors

• Population: From teaching, social work or health care education programmes at the university colleges in the Mid-Norwegian region (Trøndelag counties)


Part 3: Asking a broader population survey

Part 3: Asking a broader population survey

• Research question: Which factors influence students with disabilites’ access to and throughout vocational bachelor programmes in Norway?

• Approach: Electronic survey

• Informants: Students with and without impaiments, faculty staff, and practicum supervisors

• Population: Programmes within teaching, social work and health care at several educational institutions in Norway


Preliminary results from part 1…

Thank you for your attention!


«As a disabled person, using the same door as everyone else entails an added difficulty; I need the door to be just a little bit wider, a little bit higher, and a little bit brighter.»

Students with impairment – are they disabled in higher education ?

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