Inherent requirements in higher education: locating You in Us

ABSTRACT

Enrolments of students with disabilities in higher education have increased steadily over recent decades. Yet, conjecture about the application of inherent requirements, which can prevent students in some circumstances from entering professions of their choosing, endure. This paper offers those connected to higher education three points to enhance their thinking about inherent requirements. These involve (i) foregrounding ethics in matters of integrity; (ii) orienting differently to disability, and (iii) questioning qualification to employment guarantees. Recommendations for practice are then made. The paper concludes that inclusive education can no longer be measured on enrolment quantifiers alone – how higher education providers create opportunity for all learners to study and transition to employment must surely follow. Rather than perpetuating homogeneity upon the world of education and work, higher education can utilise inherent requirements to increase social justice and equity.

KEYWORDS:

• Inherent requirements
• equity
• students with disabilities
• employment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tim Corcoran

Dr Tim Corcoran is Associate Professor in Inclusive Education, School of Education, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Tim practiced for a decade as a psychologist in two Queensland government departments (Education and Corrective Services). His work has involved teaching, research and professional practice in Australia, the UK and Singapore. His research is dedicated to creating sensible theory∼practice options supporting psychosocial ways of knowing/being. In 2014 he edited Psychology in education: Critical theory∼practice (Sense), an international collection of contributions examining critical approaches to educational psychology. More recently he co-edited Disability studies: Educating for inclusion (2015, Sense), Joint action: Essays in honour of John Shotter (2016, Routledge), Critical Educational Psychology (2017, Wiley), and Who’s In, Who’s Out: What to do about inclusive education (2018, Brill).

B. Whitburn

As a scholar living with a disability, Dr Ben Whitburn seeks to heighten equity across educational sectors by building the capacity of educators to address the unique requirements of students who live with disabilities in conjunction with their families and/or carers. To this end, Dr Whitburn draws on innovative and critical methodologies to develop programmes in both research and teaching in higher education that are centred on the voices of those affected by disability and other intersectional diversities who are subject to ongoing inequities.

E. Knight

Dr Elizabeth Knight is an educational sociologist who works as a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Research on Education Systems at the dual sector institution, Victoria University. Dr Knight previously was an AUA member when she worked as an Assistant Academic Registrar in the UK with responsibility for exams and submission for professional recognition for students. A key area of interest is equity of access to and in tertiary education, the provision of institutional information to make career decisions and support for transition into post-school education. Dr Knight has lived experience of a lifelong disability and has worked to support students with disabilities in post-school settings for the last 20 years.