Asking for too much? The voices of students with disabilities in Botswana

Abstract

Students with disabilities are under‐represented in higher education (HE) institutions in Botswana. The number of students with disabilities is on the rise but parity has not been attained. The struggle of students with disabilities to access and participate in HE remains an issue of great concern for disability activists and researchers. This paper sought to document the experiences of university students with disabilities in their struggle to access and participate in HE. Seven students with disabilities took part in the study. Data were gathered through semi‐structured focus group interviews. Later on these data were triangulated with an access‐audit of facilities. Constant comparison methods were used for data analysis. Six themes emerged, namely: attitudinal barriers; resource barriers; structural barriers; policy related issues; lack of support mechanisms; and lack of skills and knowledge. Implications of the findings to institutions of higher learning are discussed in order to promote wider participation for students with disabilities in HE in Botswana.

Keywords:

• higher education
• access and participation
• Botswana
• qualitative research
• social model