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| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Disability and the Wider Access Agenda: Supporting Disabled Students in Different Institutional Contexts |
| Author: | Riddell, Sheila |
| Author: | Wilson, Alastair |
| Author: | Tinklin, Teresa |
| Abstract: | This article compares the participation, retention and success rates of disabled students in different types of university and higher education institutions (HEIs) in England and Scotland. Quantitative data are used to describe the social characteristics of disabled and non-disabled students in different types of institution in England and Scotland. Subsequently, the article explores the way in which disabled students from different social backgrounds relate to the wider institutional ethos of their particular university and the types of student support mechanisms which are in place. In understanding the interactions between specific institutions and the disabled students within them, it is useful to draw on Bourdieu''s ideas of individual and institutional habitus. According to Bourdieu (1990), the way in which individuals and institutions inter-relate is shaped by the habitus of each. Habitus can be viewed as a complex internalised core from which everyday experiences emanate. It produces a pre-disposition to behave in certain ways, but also limits possibilities to those feasible for the social groups to which the individual belongs. Because of the way in which habitus shapes the way in which individuals and institutions respond to the world, actions tend to be reproductive rather than transformative. The article concludes by discussing implications of disabled students’ experience in particular institutions for the wider access agenda more generally. |
| URL | http://wpll-journal.metapress.com/content/013221M421V82435 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 13-25 |
| Publication | Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning |
| Date | 2002-12-01 December 01, 2002 |