Exploring perceptions of and supporting dyslexia in teachers in higher education in STEM

ABSTRACT

There is much literature focused on supporting students diagnosed with learning difficulties within higher education, in particular those with dyslexia. However, there is relatively little that discusses perceptions of and support for academics who have been diagnosed with the same learning difficulties. Although statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Authority suggest that percentages of staff declaring that they have dyslexia are much lower than those of undergraduate or postgraduate students, anecdotally media and social media suggest there is a sizeable population of academics who have this neurodiversity. In this paper we explore perceptions of dyslexia, and suggest practical ways in which to support new academics with or without a diagnosis.

KEYWORDS:

• Dyslexia
• higher education
• teachers
• teaching
• support
• stem

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Hiscock

Jennifer Hiscock obtained her PhD from University of Southampton (UK) in 2010. She moved to the University of Kent (UK) as the Caldin research fellow, and was awarded a permanent lectureship position in 2016. She has since been promoted to Reader in Supramolecular Chemistry and Director of Innovation and Enterprise for the School of Physical Sciences. Her current research focuses on applying supramolecular chemistry to solve real-world problems. This includes the development of ‘frustrated’ supramolecular self-associated systems as weapons in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Jennifer Leigh

Jennifer Leigh’s research weaves together threads of embodiment, marginalisation, and creative research methods. As Senior Lecturer in Higher Education and Academic Practice at the University of Kent, Jennifer works closely with the Graduate School supporting GTAs, instigated a competition to enhance the post-doctoral research environment and opportunities for independent research and undergraduate opportunities, and liaises with the Science Faculty in addition to teaching and leading core MA and PGCHE modules in the Centre for the Study of Higher Education.