Female students with disabilities in higher education - The Ethiopian case

Author(s):

Michelle Proyer(presenting / submitting)Yirgashewa Bekele Abdi

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 03 C, Student Diversity

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

17:15-18:45

Room:

338. [Main]

Chair:

Caroline Berggren

Contribution

Considering the vast and fast expansion of universities in Ethiopia, questions related to accessbility and equal provision are of interest. This submission focuses on students with disabilities. Compared to long established higher education institutions in other (European) countries that might need to undergo restructuring, newly built universities could cater for specific needs from the onset and provided full structural accessibility. Or at least consider them. Are e.g. persons with disabilities considered in planning the location of classrooms or availability of accessible toilets? If so, considerations need to reach far beyond (infra)structural accessibility.
The percentage of persons with disabilities attending university compared to other (European) countries is considerably high. Availability of services on the other hand are often limited or non-existent. This holds even more true or females with disabilities. Even if they manage to qualify for and receive higher education, they face a number of additional or more severe challenges as their male fellow-students. Exploring the type and roots of these additional barrieres or recommendations how to tackle these are at the core of this submission. Females students with disabilities currently studying at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia were invited to discuss challenges and associated recommendations for action. Of main interest were females' personal accounts of how they achieved the level of higher education. Some of them had to break with their families in order to continue education. Challenges are more often than not associated with economic shortages.

Method

Group discussions among female students with visual and physical disabilities were facilitated in the course of a one day workshop in May 2014 at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Main points of discussion were documented. Additionally, one interview with two female students with hearing disability concuted in 2014. Main barriers and challenges were topically grouped. A literature review was conducted focusing on the intersection of disability, higher education and gender (in so called developing countries). These two parts were being integrated and a synopsis focuses on dicussing main challenges, their origin as well as the way ahead.

Expected Outcomes

There is a lack in reference to higher education of females with disabilities in general and in so-called developing countries in particular. This underlines the still prevalent discrimination of females and females with disabilities in particular in higher education. Considering current developments in higher education provision in Ethiopia, it seems undeniable. Crucial decisions related to future possibilities in higher education of the country are being made, the need to critically assess these callenges, also at the backdrop of a globalized discourse, arise in order to facilitate a holistic discourse. Interestingly, structural accessbility was not too much of an issue for the females with disabilities. Far more challenging were socio-economic challenges. The setting that served as main source of data collection - workshop for females with disabilities - proved very helpful and could serve as a prototype for The set-up and development of the workshop was developed among the two main authors and proved intercultural collaboration as worthwile concepts.

References

Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2009). Trends in global higher education: Tracking an academic revolution. Bae, Y., Choy, S., Geddes, C., Sable, J., & Snyder, T. (2000). Trends in Educational Equity of Girls & Women. ED Pubs, PO Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Molla, T., & Gale, T. (2014). Inequality in Ethiopian higher education: Reframing the problem as capability deprivation. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, (ahead-of-print), 1-15. Semela, T. (2006). Higher Education Expansion and the Gender Question in Ethiopia: A case study of women in a public university. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, 3(1), 63-86. Semela,T. and Ayalew, E. (2008). Ethiopia. D. Teferra and J. Knight (eds.), Higher Education in Africa: The International Dimension, Chestnut Hill, MA and Accra; Boston College Center for International Higher Education and Association ofAfrican Universities. 159-207

Author Information

Michelle Proyer (presenting / submitting)

Kingston University London

School of Education

Kingston upon Thames

Yirgashewa Bekele Abdi

Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

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