Disabled students’ experiences of higher education in Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the United States – a comparative institutional analysis

Abstract

Students with disabilities face obstacles in their encounters with higher education. The aim of this study is to investigate how the institutional context shapes students’ experiences of unequal opportunities in higher education. In comparing disabled students’ experiences from universities in Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the United States, the study makes visible the kind of experiences that students share and how experiences differ between these countries within the global context of higher education. The study has shown that students’ possibilities for equal participation are shaped by the institutional context that is based on medical diagnosis and compensation for an inaccessible education.

Keywords:

• Disability
• student experience
• student accommodation
• institutional and neo-institutional theories
• social sciences
• higher education

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Dr. Pavel Pesat for guidance in the Czech Republic.