Susan L. Gabel, PhD
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Study of the network of relations between various
aspects of the environment.
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Network of relations in higher education:
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*People
*Purposes
Places
Policies
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*Revolutionary massification
◦ “Unprecedented in scope & diversity”
◦ Who’s excluded?
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*Shifting priorities & purposes
◦ Equity & access
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Internationalization of policies & programs
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$1 million awarded to National-Louis University
◦ Private non-sectarian university
◦ 5 campuses in Chicago metropolitan area
◦ Student body:
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Approx. 15,000 total
75% female
54% part time
Non/white 27%
Average age 32 (undergraduate), 38 ( graduate)
Large number single parents; poor families; first generation
college
◦ Open access university
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Add google map here
Unprecedented in scope & diversity
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Globally, 26% of age cohorts in tertiary education
Belgium (Flemish) average age 21.1
US community colleges
◦ 42% are 22-39
◦ 16% are 40 & older
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Average age of NLU students
◦ Undergraduate 35
◦ Graduate 38
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US community colleges 60% female
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NLU 74% female
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53.4% female in Belgium (Flemish) HE
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Gender parity in developing world
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Belgium 1.26
Cambodia 0.56
Japan 0.88
Jordan 1.10
Kenya 0.57
South Korea 0.67
United Kingdom 1.40
United States 1.41
United Nations Statistics Division (2009)
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Usually measured by education level of parents.
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Low socio-economic students under-represented
internationally.
◦ Minority status
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Rural Mexico: 90% are 1st in family in HE
India: 5% set asides for “scheduled castes,” disabled,
women
Brazil: set asides for Afro-Brazilians
Belgium (Flemish): funding weights
Open Universities:
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1.8 m-Indira Gandhi National Open U.
¼ m-U. South Africa
27 countries-Africa Virtual U.
Zimbabwe Open U.
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57.8% of 18 year olds start Bacheloriate program
Average age 21.1
53.4% female
50% have fathers with university credentials
78% educated school leavers in 2005 had jobs in 2006
◦ 88% high educated
◦ 68.4% medium educated
◦ 45.3% low educated
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*Access & equity
Mobility
Degree completion
Readiness for employment
Lifelong learning
Student centered learning
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Gender parity index
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Participation rates
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Attainment rates
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Educational equity index
Usher & Cervenan (2005)
Usher & Cervenan (2005)
Usher & Cervenan (2005)
Usher & Cervenan (2005)
Usher & Cervenan (2005)
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When women are excluded from HE, disabled women
are disproportionately affected.
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When attainment or completion is minimal, disabled
students are disproportionately affected.
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When educational equity is low or when HE does not
represent the diversity in society, disabled students are
disproportionately affected.
◦ To increase employability
◦ To enhance personal development
◦ To educate for active citizenship
Gallup (2009)
Gallup (2009)
Gallup (2009)
Gallup (2009)
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Equitable access & completion
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Reflect the diversity of the population
◦ Must provide adequate conditions by removing all barriers to
study:
 Improve learning environment
 Create economic feasibility
 Flexible learning paths
Gallup (2009)
Gallup (2009)
Gallup (2009)
Think-pair-share
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10% world’s population
World’s largest minority
20% world’s poorest people are disabled
In OECD countries, under-represented in HE
Unemployment as high as 80%
Most segregated & least educated: people with
intellectual disabilities
Also significantly isolated: people with psychiatric
impairments
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“Mutually reinforcing layers of disadvantage…restrict
opportunity” (p. 151).
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“Disability is one of the least visible but most potent
factors in educational marginalization” (p. 195).
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“It is social, institutional and attitudinal barriers that
limit the full inclusion of people with disabilities” (p.
181).
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<1% self-identify
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10% identify in census
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30% of disabled attend least technological campus
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68% in National College of Education
Mild, Moderate, Severe hearing loss
Back pain, needs cane
Fibromyalgia
Addison’s disease
Degenerative disc and joint disease
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Chronic pain
Dyslexia
Multiple sclerosis
Attention deficit with/without hyperactivity
Bi-polar disorder
Hypertension
Learning disability
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Light sensitivity—severe migraines
Unable to walk or stand for long periods
Polio
Asthma
Anxiety
Depression
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Heart condition
Learning comprehension
Reading comprehension
Severe respiratory disease
Poor vision
Carpal tunnel
Scoliosis
Pinched nerve in spine
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Poor short term memory
Torn ligament in right hand—70% function left
Back injury
Cancer—cancer treatments
Panic attacks
Narcolepsy
Traumatic brain injury
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Paraplegia
Vision impairment
Congenital loss of hand
Severe clinical depression
Blind
HIV/AIDS
Cerebral palsy
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I have learning disabilities which can make online
learning extremely difficult.
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I have MS, so my disability will vary with my "flare
ups" that I experience.
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I had a stroke several years ago, I have difficulty with
comprehension of written material and blindness in the
right eye.
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Several brain surgeries with 3 shunt placements.
Ventricular Atrial shunt manages csf fluid in brain.
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Narcolepsy-- uncontrollable tiredness at inappropriate
times throughout the day.
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Most NLU students will not self identify
◦ Self identification requirement insufficient
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Most NLU students have invisible conditions
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Chronic health impairments are the highest incidence
conditions
◦ Age related
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“I don’t know if my coordinators wanted to
acknowledge I had a disability even though I
mentioned it in my papers. I wrote about it but I
think it was dismissed.”
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“I don’t think they know how to address the fact that
there is a person in front of them with a disability, a
learning disability. Maybe they were embarrassed
that I’d gone through these courses and they still
couldn’t pass me.”
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“I’m one of those people that fall through the cracks.
And now I’m at the point where I don’t know what to
do anymore. I don’t know if I’m marketable. I’ve
tried to become marketable, but I’m so afraid of
going out and get a job because I don’t have a
bachelor’s.”
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“They get the sheet from the Office of Diversity,
they look it over [and say] it’s fine. Then the next
week, we don’t have notes, we don’t see anything,
and you struggle through.”
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“One teacher said they didn’t have the money to make copies,
and that makes me hit the ceiling.”
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“Common sense tells you, ‘what’s he going to write
notes with; what’s he going to write things down
with’? So I’d have to put my notebook in my lap. It
was awkward. I dropped the stuff half the time.
When you’re on a desk you can write.”
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“One girl was kosher, she was orthodox Jew, and she
couldn’t touch anybody—and the teacher had more of
a fit thinking about [whether] she forgot about this
girl than the fact that I can’t use both my arms.”
Think-pair-share
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Reasonable adjustments requirements in tension with
other policies.
Student accommodation needs in tension with teacher
preferences.
Student subtle requests for help in tension with other
competing responsibilities and messages.
Students invisible and hyper-visible, often at the same
time
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HE is public good with social responsibilities
Access is not enough, must ensure successful
participation & completion
Quality criteria
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Critical & independent thought
Lifelong learning
Innovation
diversity
Must guarantee equal access
◦ Flexible entry pathways through prior experience
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Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy
including the freedom to make one's own choices, and
independence of persons
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Non-discrimination
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Full and effective participation and inclusion in society
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Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with
disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity
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Equality of opportunity
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Accessibility
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Equality between men and women
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Respect for the evolving capacities of children with
disabilities and respect for the right of children with
disabilities to preserve their identities
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Article 24(5)
States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities
are able to access general tertiary education, vocational
training, adult education and lifelong learning without
discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To
this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable
accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities.
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Given “unprecedented scope & diversity,” what’s
reasonable for
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Middle aged or elderly students
Culturally diverse immigrants
Women who are pregnant
Single parents
Working students
Disabled students
Students with chronic health impairments
Low socio-economic students
Religious minority students
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
ACCESSIBILITY &
AFFORDABILITY
ENTITLEMENTS &
OPPORTUNITIES
UNESCO (2010a)
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Minimize tension between policy, pedagogy, and
accommodating students.
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De-stigmatize accommodations with student-centered
adjustments.
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Build curriculum & instruction using Universal Design
for Learning principles.
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--------- (2009). The Bologna Process 2020: The European Higher Education Area in the new decade. Communiqué
of the conference of the European Ministers responsible for higher education. Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29
April 2009.
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Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2009). Global trends in higher education: Tracking an academic
revolution. Paris: UNESCO.
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European Commission. (2010). The EU contribution to the European Higher Education Area. Luxembourg:
European Union.
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Eurydice. (2010). Focus on higher education in Europe 2010: The impact of the Bologna Process. Brussels:
Eurydice.
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Gallup Organization. (2009). Students and higher education reform: Survey among students in higher education
institutions in the EU member states, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Turkey. Budapest: Gallup Organization
Hungary.
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Huys, I., Debackere, K., & De Kock, L. (2009). Higher education in the Flemish community of Belgium, the
French Community of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Brussels: Expertisecentrum O&O Monitoring
van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, in collaboration with the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training.
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Shah, T. (2006).
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UNESCO. (2009). World conference on higher education: The new dynamics of higher education and research for
social change and development. Paris: UNESCO.
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UNESCO. (2010a). Reaching the marginalized. Global monitoring report 20010. Paris: UNESCO.
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UNESCO (2010b). Some facts about persons with disabilities. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from
www.un.org/disabilities/convention/facts.shtml.
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United Nations Statistics Division. (2009). Millennium Development Goals Database. Retrieved May 16, 2010
from http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=gender+parity+index&d.
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Usher, A., & Cervenan, A. (2005). Global higher education rankings 2005. Toronto: Educational Policy Institute.