Students with disabilities in higher education call for personal empowerment, equitable inclusive systems and individualized accommodations

Bartolo, Paul and Borg, Michelle and Camilleri, Liberato and Callus, Anne-Marie and De Gaetano, Alistair and Mangiafico, Marchita and Mazzacano D'amato, Edward and Sammut, Carmen and Vincent, Jonathan (2025) Students with disabilities in higher education call for personal empowerment, equitable inclusive systems and individualized accommodations. Frontiers in Education, 1 (1). ISSN 2504-284X (In Press)

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Abstract

An increasing number of students with disability are attending higher education across the world. However, research shows that they still encounter an ableist system of teaching and learning that hinders their equitable participation. This study focuses on the student experience at one middle-sized university – the University of Malta - which has been developing accommodations for students with disability over the past three decades. The study applied a framework for understanding the aspirations and needs of students with disability in higher education that was developed through a systematic scoping review of recent research (Bartolo et al., 2023) comprising three dimensions: student self-identity development, universal design of higher education environments, and flexible individual accommodations. Data consisted of a quantitative survey with university students with disability as well as semi-structured interviews with autistic students. The findings provide important new insights relevant to the inclusion of students with disability in tertiary education, namely: the students’ struggle with developing a healthy self-identity, overcoming stigma, and building self-advocacy and self-management skills; a call for inclusive universal design of teaching and more understanding by lecturers; and finally a call for more tailored support for the design and implementation of accommodations involving the students themselves.