Higher education has particular challenges with diversity and inclusion that includes racism, sexism, and ableism. Each one of these are important to address in a university environment and pose their own unique challenges to the administration, faculty, and students. This blog however will focus on ableism in higher education.
Ableism is defined as, “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.” [1]
Higher education historically was built for those that were fully able, as those are the people that had access and the ability to peruse a higher education historically. Ableism in higher education is greater than just infrastructure that favors able bodied individuals around campus, but also includes faculty culture, as well as gatekeep effects of entrance exams for higher education. Two of the most noted higher education entrance exams in the United States are the ACT and SAT. Both of these exams have their governing bodies that enforce different policies and procedures for obtaining accommodations and these are guided by the ADA testing accommodations as stated by the U.S. Department of Justice [2].
Although these accommodation polices are clearly laid out many struggle with obtaining the appropriate accommodations. This is because the governing organization must approve accommodations as reasonable for the student on the exam. However, each student that is not abled body has a unique situation that has taken many years to address in the school system and I believe not able to be appropriately understood through the paperwork recommended to submit to the governing bodies. This provides a gatekeeping affect to these students as the process can be long, time consuming, and frequently not provide favorable outcomes.