Students with Disabilities and the Transition to Work: A Capabilities Approach

Description

This book sets out to understand how students with disabilities experience higher education and the transition to the workplace. It foregrounds the voices of students and graduates in order to explore identity, inclusion, participation and success of youth with disabilities in higher education, as well as their transition from university to employment. The author proposes a new understanding of disability, considered in terms of a continuum of abilities, balancing empirical data, theory and policy analysis with specific regard to the interests of youth with disabilities, making a unique contribution to discussions on access, inclusion and success in higher education and employment. These discussions inform social development and educational policy planning and implementation, not only in South Africa, but also in countries with a similar context, particularly in terms of remedial courses of action that bring social justice to people with disabilities. Students with Disabilities and the Transition to Work will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of disability studies, particularly those with a focus on critical disability studies and disability in the global south, as well as those working in higher education, sociology, development studies and social policy. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements 1. Introduction The study Participants’ personal biographies (2013) The universities Structure of the book 2. Students with disabilities in higher education: A global perspective Introduction Perceptions and experiences of students with disabilities in higher education Higher education institutions’ responses to the needs of students with disabilities Positive responses by higher education institutions Differences between higher education institutions Differences within higher education institutions Dearth or absence of entrenching of disability-inclusive policies and practices in higher education institutions Discussion Conclusion 3. Students with disabilities in South African higher education Introduction Conceptualising disability Students with disabilities’ access and participation in higher education Apartheid period Post-1994 Access challenges Supporting mechanisms for students with disabilities The role of Disability Units The role of lecturers The role of assistive technology Other enabling factors Discussion Conclusion 4. Disability models or approaches Introduction The medical model The social model The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health The human rights approach Conclusion 5. Capability approaches Introduction Amartya Sen’s capability approach Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach Capability approaches and disability Capabilities Functionings Conversion factors Heterogeneities Agency Adaptive preference and compensating abilities Theory of participatory parity Conclusion 6. Disabled or not disabled? Introduction Conceptualising disability Findings Discussion Conclusion 7. Inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education Introduction Inclusion and exclusion Findings Funding conditions Social networks Access to teaching and learning Assessment and examination Discussion Conclusion 8. Factors affecting the lives of students with disabilities at university Introduction Intersectionality and disability studies Findings Gender and impairment Race/class and impairment Family upbringing and impairment Pre-university schooling and impairment Impairment and university arrangements Type of impairment and disadvantage Culture and impairment Geographical location and impairment Discussion Conclusion 9. Resilience and coping strategies Introduction Coping mechanisms Findings How coping strategies are manifested in participants’ lives Factors that enable students with disabilities to cope Personal characteristics Family and friends Teachers Faith/religion Lecturers Discussion Conclusion 10. Valued opportunities Introduction Capabilities approach, disability and the dilemma of difference The ‘dilemma of difference’ A list of capabilities Findings Capabilities and valued functionings Capabilities from Walker’s (2006) list Capabilities from Wolff and de-Shalit’s (2007) list Additional higher education capabilities Discussion Conclusion 11. Youth with disabilities and their transition to employment Introduction Findings Personal traits Education and workplace arrangements Social, economic and political arrangements Discussion Conclusion 12. Beyond the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Sustainable Development Goals Introduction National and international disability frameworks Possibilities and ways forward Government, relevant ministries and policy-makers Higher education and employers Students with disabilities Conclusion Index