Attitudes towards disability in Higher Education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/ANPSIC2022.52/2.3

Abstract

In this article, we present data concerning the attitudes towards disability of students in Higher Education (HE) at a Spanish university. This research is part of a wider project designed to understand these attitudes at other Spanish universities and Brazilian and Portuguese Universities. The total sample was composed of 609 students (Mean age: 24.41; SD: 9.84), including undergraduates (85.7%) and postgraduates (14.3%) from different faculties at the University of Barcelona. Seventy-seven percent of the sample were women, and 6.1% had some disability. The first part of the instrument used collects sociodemographic information. The second part contains 43 statements grouped in three blocks: 17 relating to the biological model of disability, 15 to the social model, and 11 to the metaphysical perspective. The results showed the predominance of agreement with the social and biological conceptions of disability. Moreover, significant differences were found among the students' attitudes related to their year of study, age, faculty, and absence of disability. The results obtained represent a first step regarding the need to voice students with a disability in the processes required for their social inclusion.

Keywords: attitudes towards disability, Higher Education, educational inclusion, models of disability

 

Author Biographies

Marta Gràcia , Department of Cognition Development and Psychology of Education, University of Barcelona, 08035, Spain; E-Mail: mgraciag@ub.edu

Full Professor of Educational Psychology. Graduated in Psychology, Doctor in Psychology of Education at the University of Barcelona and Post-doctorate University of Texas (Austin). Professor at the Department of Cognition, Development and Psychology of Education, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona in Spain. Scientific advisor to research funding agencies in Spain and scientific journals. Has experience in Educational Psychology, acting mainly on the following themes: disability, special Education, inclusive Education, special educational needs, teaching and learning processes, teaching and learning oral language, social inclusion and continuing Education, early intervention. She is the coordinator of CLOD (Communication, Oral Language and Diversity) international research group, and she is the coordinator of the Interuniversity Doctoral Program in Psychology of Education (DIPE) coordinated at the University of Barcelona. She has published academic papers in academic journals (Early Child Development and Care, Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, among others) and in books edited by Paul H. Brookes, among others.  ORCID: 0000-0003-1280-4578 

Lucia Leite, Department of Psychology, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Bauru, Brasil

Full Professor of Educational Psychology. Post-doctorate in the Graduate Program in Special Education (UFSCar). Graduated in Psychology, Master and Doctor in Education (São Paulo State University - UNESP). Professor at the Department of Psychology and the Graduate Program in Developmental and Learning Psychology at the Faculty of Sciences (São Paulo State University - UNESP- Bauru – Brazil). Scientific advisor to research funding agencies in Brazil and scientific journals. Has experience in Educational Psychology, Social Psychology and Education, acting mainly on the following themes: disability, special Education, inclusive Education, special educational needs, teaching and learning processes, social inclusion and continuing Education. Participated as deputy coordinator of a research network financed by CAPES - Education Observatory in Higher Education. Leader of GEPDI - Study and Research Group on Disability and Inclusion - CNPq. Research Productivity Scholarship at National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Member of the Psychology and Educational Policies Working Group - National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology. Member of the Consultative Committee on Special Education and Specialized Care in Exams and Assessments of Basic Education of the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research - Brazil. 

Cristina Cañete-Massé, Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona

Pre-doctoral student at the University of Barcelona. Graduated in Psychology and member of Quantitative Psychology section. Partial professor at the University of Barcelona in fields linked with statistics and member of the Institut of Complex systems (UBICS). Has experience in statistics and research techniques and has been a scientific advisor in some projects linked with Psychology.

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Published

2022-07-25

Issue

Vol. 52 No. 2 (2022)

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Articles

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