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Access and equity for students with disabilities in Colombian higher education

Bibliographic Data

ID21639367
AuthorsAdalia Vidarte (Los Angeles Unified School District), Juanita Reina Zambrano (0000-0001-5373-8621, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios), Allison Mattheis (0000-0002-8602-3654, California State University Los Angeles)
Year2022
Volume30
Publication date2022-05-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducation Policy Analysis Archives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1068-2341 • E-ISSN: 1068-2341
PublisherMary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.14507/epaa.30.6044
OpenAlexW4225392859
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited9

Efforts to increase access to higher education in Colombia have resulted in increased enrollment across the country and an expansion of the postsecondary education sector. National legislation such as the 1994 Ley 115 guarantees individuals with disabilities the right to an inclusive public education, and in 2011, Colombia also adopted and ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Many sociopolitical and pedagogical obstacles remain, however, that make it difficult for students with disabilities to access higher education. In Colombia, only 1.7% of students with disabilities graduate from a university setting (Fundación Saldarriaga-Concha, 2018). This article draws from data collected for a larger mixed methods study exploring the influence of different social identities on students' experiences at a private university system in Colombia; here we focus specifically on the experiences of students with disabilities. We were guided by critical disabilities studies in education (DSE) as a theoretical framework for conceptualizing disability in educational settings and explored how the experiences of dis/abled students at Dosantos University reflect institutional policy commitments. Data from first-person narratives illustrate that students with disabilities face discrimination inside educational spaces that reflect broader limited societal understandings of dis/ability, but that students still persisted. Participants documented the strategies they use to successfully access postsecondary opportunity, and an analysis of their experiences illuminates ways that universities can reduce obstacles in this process

Access to Higher Education · Convention · Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Educational Equity · Focus group · Higher education · Legislation · Pedagogy · Political science · Postsecondary education · Social science · Sociology · Special education · Inclusive Education and Diversity · Psychology · Public Health and Environmental Issues

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  • An exploration of Colombian systems of oppression through college students’ perceptions

    Pamela Mendoza, Maryluz Hoyos Ensuncho et al.•International Journal of…•2025

  • Disability and Social Justice

    Open Access•Karen Villalba•Journal of Human Rights and…•2026

  • Focus Groups

    Richard A Powell, Helen M Single•International Journal for Quality…•1996

  • [Re]claiming “Inclusive Education” toward Cohesion in Educational Reform

    Open Access•Susan Baglieri, Lynne M Bejoian et al.•Teachers College Record The Voice…•2011

  • Disability Studies in Education

    Open Access•Susan Baglieri, Jan W Valle et al.•Remedial and Special Education•2011

  • Voices of “disabled” post secondary students

    Emily Hutcheon, G Wolbring•Journal of Diversity in Higher…•2012

  • What’s Disability Got To Do With It?’

    Lisa W Loutzenheiser, Nirmala Erevelles•Educational Studies•2019

  • Mapping the Margins

    Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kimberlé W Crenshaw•Stanford Law Review•1991

  • Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit)

    Subini Ancy Annamma, David J Connor et al.•Race Ethnicity and Education•2012

  • A Qualitative Framework for Collecting and Analyzing Data in Focus Group Research

    Open Access•Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Wendy B Dickinson et al.•International Journal of…•2009

  • Intersectionality's Definitional Dilemmas

    Patricia Hill Collins•Annual Review of Sociology•2015

Unique citing works3
Citations per year3
Citation span2025 - 2026 (2)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2

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