Exploring Postsecondary Administrators’ Inclusion of Disability within Their Definition of Student Diversity

ABSTRACT

Research notes that stigmatisation still exists within higher education for individuals identifying as having a disability. Institutional members, including administrators, may indicate an overall positive perception of students with disabilities; however, this perception may not translate to consistent inclusion of this student group in the student diversity landscape. Limited research exists on if and how postsecondary administrators include disability within their overall definition of postsecondary student diversity. This qualitative study explores administrators’ interpretation of student diversity and the inclusion of disability within this definition. Findings indicate that administrators do not regularly include disability as a component of student diversity. This brief report presents implications and recommendations for postsecondary stakeholders to incorporate the concept of disability within student diversity programming.

KEYWORDS:

• disability
• higher education
• inclusion
• inclusive environment
• postsecondary administrators
• postsecondary education
• student success
• Students with disability

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.