Higher Education in Times of Crisis: Shifting Towards Better Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a tumultuous, emergent and dynamic new normal across all facets of society as strikingly illustrated in the field of education, with school closures affecting 94% of the global student population. Higher education institutions (HEIs), confronted with growing fears of long-term effects on academic outcomes and enrolment statistics, were compelled to reckon directly with the vast inequalities revealed through remote instruction. With the classroom’s intrusion into the private domain, the most vulnerable learners, specifically students with disabilities (SWDs) often avoided disclosing their disability due to fear of stigma, leading to fewer receiving the accommodations necessary for optimal outcomes. In response, many HEIs were obliged to swiftly move towards greater transparency, engagement, and proximity with their disabled student constituencies. The case of a French Business school presented in this chapter reveals that such a shift eventually resulted in increased levels of disclosure of the SWD population. We review the institutional response to student inequalities in the post-COVID return to campus and relate it to theories of organizational diversity and disability inclusion to better understand how, despite contradictory tensions, institutional shifts during crises can ultimately lead to better disclosure and inclusion outcomes for SWDs.

Citation

Louissi, S. and Mielly, M. (2024), "Higher Education in Times of Crisis: Shifting Towards Better Inclusion of Students with Disabilities", Hack-Polay, D., Lock, D., Caputo, A., Lokhande, M. and Salunkhe, U. (Ed.) Global Higher Education Practices in Times of Crisis: Questions for Sustainability and Digitalization, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 95-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83797-052-020241007