Voices of university students with disabilities: inclusive education on the tertiary level – a reality or a distant dream?

Abstract

Twenty-four university students with disabilities were interviewed about their experiences studying at Czech universities. The interviews were analysed using the grounded theory approach. The most commonly experienced barriers faced by these students were institutional barriers, attitudinal barriers, and disability-specific barriers. The types of support mentioned by the students included family support, peer support, and support provided by assistants. The participants also shared strategies they used to deal with the barriers they faced. These were assertiveness, self-determination, metacognition, efforts to ‘fit in’, optimism, and career planning. The implications for policy and universities are discussed.

Keywords:

• higher education
• students with disabilities
• inclusive education
• barriers
• types of support
• coping strategies

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the participating students for sharing their experiences studying at Czech universities, and for not giving up despite the number of barriers they face.

Notes on contributors

Iva Strnadová is an Associate Professor in Special Education at the School of Education at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She is also an Honorary staff member at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Education and Social Work, Australia. Her research aims to contribute to better understanding and the improvement of life experiences of people with disabilities.

Vanda Hájková is an Associate Professor at Charles University in Prague, Department of Special Education. Her research focus is in the area of inclusive education for people with special educational needs. Vanda Hájková is a member of the Council of the Czech Society for Inclusive Education.

Lea Květoňová is an Associate Professor at Charles University in Prague, Department of Special Education. Her research focus is in the area of people with visual impairments and students with special educational needs on the tertiary level.

ORCID

Iva Strnadová http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8513-5400

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [grant number GA ČR 406/09/0710].