Changing ecology of higher education

Susan L. Gabel, PhD

Study of the network of relations between various aspects of the environment.

Network of relations in higher education:◦ *People◦ *Purposes◦ Places◦ Policies

Ecology

Network of relations

*Revolutionary massification◦ “Unprecedented in scope & diversity”◦Who’s excluded?

*Shifting priorities & purposes◦ Equity & access

Internationalization of policies & programs

Global trends

$1 million awarded to National-Louis University◦ Private non-sectarian university◦ 5 campuses in Chicago metropolitan area◦ Student body:

Approx. 15,000 total 75% female 54% part time Non/white 27% Average age 32 (undergraduate), 38 ( graduate) Large number single parents; poor families; first generation college

◦Open access university

NLU’s 3 Year Federal Grant (2008-2011)

Add google map here

Global trend #1

Revolutionary massification

Unprecedented in scope & diversity

Globally, 26% of age cohorts in tertiary education Belgium (Flemish) average age 21.1 US community colleges◦ 42% are 22-39◦ 16% are 40 & older

Average age of NLU students◦Undergraduate 35◦Graduate 38

Age

US community colleges 60% female

NLU 74% female

53.4% female in Belgium (Flemish) HE

Gender parity in developing world

Gender

Belgium 1.26 Cambodia 0.56 Japan 0.88 Jordan 1.10 Kenya 0.57 South Korea 0.67 United Kingdom 1.40 United States 1.41

United Nations Statistics Division (2009)

Tertiary Gender parity index (2007)

Usually measured by education level of parents.

Low socio-economic students under-represented internationally.◦Minority status

Social class

Rural Mexico: 90% are 1st in family in HE India: 5% set asides for “scheduled castes,” disabled,

women Brazil: set asides for Afro-Brazilians Belgium (Flemish): funding weights Open Universities:◦ 1.8 m-Indira Gandhi National Open U.◦¼ m-U. South Africa◦ 27 countries-Africa Virtual U.◦ Zimbabwe Open U.

0Disability index????

Flanders

57.8% of 18 year olds start Bacheloriate program Average age 21.1 53.4% female 50% have fathers with university credentials 78% educated school leavers in 2005 had jobs in 2006◦ 88% high educated ◦ 68.4% medium educated◦ 45.3% low educated

Students

Global issue #2

Shifting priorities & purposes

*Access & equity Mobility Degree completion Readiness for employment Lifelong learning Student centered learning

Priorities

Belgium

Gender parity index

Participation rates

Attainment rates

Educational equity index

Equity & access

Gender parity index (10%)

Usher & Cervenan (2005)

Participation rates (25%)

Usher & Cervenan (2005)

Attainment rates (25%)

Usher & Cervenan (2005)

Educational equity index (40%)

Usher & Cervenan (2005)

Overall accessibility rankings

Usher & Cervenan (2005)

When women are excluded from HE, disabled women are disproportionately affected.

When attainment or completion is minimal, disabled students are disproportionately affected.

When educational equity is low or when HE does not represent the diversity in society, disabled students are disproportionately affected.

Implications for disabled people

◦ To increase employability

◦ To enhance personal development

◦ To educate for active citizenship

Purposes

European Union

EU Survey of HE students

Gallup (2009)

96%: Increase employability

Gallup (2009)

92%: Enhance personal development

Gallup (2009)

87%: Educate for active citizenship

Gallup (2009)

Equitable access & completion

Reflect the diversity of the population◦Must provide adequate conditions by removing all barriers to

study: Improve learning environment Create economic feasibility Flexible learning paths

Leuven Communiqué

88%: agree on right to study

Gallup (2009)

48%: universities should have right to select students

Gallup (2009)

80%: universities should do more to ensure diversity

Gallup (2009)

What do these data suggest about HE in Belgium?

Think-pair-share

10% world’s population World’s largest minority 20% world’s poorest people are disabled In OECD countries, under-represented in HE Unemployment as high as 80% Most segregated & least educated: people with

intellectual disabilities Also significantly isolated: people with psychiatric

impairments

Minority status—disabled

“Mutually reinforcing layers of disadvantage…restrict opportunity” (p. 151).

“Disability is one of the least visible but most potent factors in educational marginalization” (p. 195).

“It is social, institutional and attitudinal barriers that limit the full inclusion of people with disabilities” (p. 181).

UNESCO (2010a) Global Monitoring Report

<1% self-identify

10% identify in census

30% of disabled attend least technological campus

68% in National College of Education

NLU student census 2009

Impairments listed

Mild, Moderate, Severe hearing lossBack pain, needs caneFibromyalgiaAddison’s diseaseDegenerative disc and joint diseaseDiabetes

EpilepsyChronic painDyslexiaMultiple sclerosisAttention deficit with/without hyperactivityBi-polar disorderHypertensionLearning disability

Light sensitivity—severe migraines Unable to walk or stand for long periods Polio Asthma Anxiety Depression

Heart condition Learning comprehension Reading comprehension Severe respiratory disease Poor vision Carpal tunnel Scoliosis Pinched nerve in spine

Poor short term memory Torn ligament in right hand—70% function left Back injury Cancer—cancer treatments Panic attacks Narcolepsy Traumatic brain injury

Paraplegia Vision impairment Congenital loss of hand Severe clinical depression Blind HIV/AIDS Cerebral palsy

I have learning disabilities which can make online learning extremely difficult.

I have MS, so my disability will vary with my "flare ups" that I experience.

I had a stroke several years ago, I have difficulty with comprehension of written material and blindness in the right eye.

Census comments 2010

Several brain surgeries with 3 shunt placements. Ventricular Atrial shunt manages csf fluid in brain.

Narcolepsy-- uncontrollable tiredness at inappropriate times throughout the day.

Most NLU students will not self identify◦ Self identification requirement insufficient

Most NLU students have invisible conditions

Chronic health impairments are the highest incidence conditions◦Age related

What do our data suggest?

“I don’t know if my coordinators wanted to acknowledge I had a disability even though I mentioned it in my papers. I wrote about it but I think it was dismissed.”

Elaine, undergraduate student

“I don’t think they know how to address the fact that there is a person in front of them with a disability, a learning disability. Maybe they were embarrassed that I’d gone through these courses and they still couldn’t pass me.”

“I’m one of those people that fall through the cracks. And now I’m at the point where I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know if I’m marketable. I’ve tried to become marketable, but I’m so afraid of going out and get a job because I don’t have a bachelor’s.”

“They get the sheet from the Office of Diversity, they look it over [and say] it’s fine. Then the next week, we don’t have notes, we don’t see anything, and you struggle through.”

Jeffrey, graduate student

“One teacher said they didn’t have the money to make copies, and that makes me hit the ceiling.”

“Common sense tells you, ‘what’s he going to write notes with; what’s he going to write things down with’? So I’d have to put my notebook in my lap. It was awkward. I dropped the stuff half the time. When you’re on a desk you can write.”

“One girl was kosher, she was orthodox Jew, and she couldn’t touch anybody—and the teacher had more of a fit thinking about [whether] she forgot about this girl than the fact that I can’t use both my arms.”

How are these 2 stories similar to or different from what happens in

your institution?Think-pair-share

Reasonable adjustments requirements in tension with other policies.

Student accommodation needs in tension with teacher preferences.

Student subtle requests for help in tension with other competing responsibilities and messages.

Students invisible and hyper-visible, often at the same time

HE is public good with social responsibilities Access is not enough, must ensure successful

participation & completion Quality criteria◦Critical & independent thought◦ Lifelong learning◦ Innovation◦ diversity

Must guarantee equal access◦ Flexible entry pathways through prior experience

World Conference on Higher Education 2009

Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons

Non-discrimination

Full and effective participation and inclusion in society

Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity

Guiding principles of UN Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities

Equality of opportunity

Accessibility

Equality between men and women

Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities

Article 24(5)

States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities.

Given “unprecedented scope & diversity,” what’s reasonable for◦Middle aged or elderly students◦Culturally diverse immigrants◦Women who are pregnant◦ Single parents ◦Working students◦Disabled students◦ Students with chronic health impairments◦ Low socio-economic students◦Religious minority students

Reasonable accommodations?

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

ACCESSIBILITY & AFFORDABILITY

ENTITLEMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

UNESCO (2010a)

Minimize tension between policy, pedagogy, and accommodating students.

De-stigmatize accommodations with student-centered adjustments.

Build curriculum & instruction using Universal Design for Learning principles.

Learning environment

--------- (2009). The Bologna Process 2020: The European Higher Education Area in the new decade. Communiqué of the conference of the European Ministers responsible for higher education. Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009.

Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2009). Global trends in higher education: Tracking an academic revolution. Paris: UNESCO.

European Commission. (2010). The EU contribution to the European Higher Education Area. Luxembourg: European Union.

Eurydice. (2010). Focus on higher education in Europe 2010: The impact of the Bologna Process. Brussels: Eurydice.

Gallup Organization. (2009). Students and higher education reform: Survey among students in higher education institutions in the EU member states, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Turkey. Budapest: Gallup Organization Hungary.

Huys, I., Debackere, K., & De Kock, L. (2009). Higher education in the Flemish community of Belgium, the French Community of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Brussels: Expertisecentrum O&O Monitoring van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, in collaboration with the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training.

Shah, T. (2006). UNESCO. (2009). World conference on higher education: The new dynamics of higher education and research for

social change and development. Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO. (2010a). Reaching the marginalized. Global monitoring report 20010. Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO (2010b). Some facts about persons with disabilities. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from

www.un.org/disabilities/convention/facts.shtml.

Sources used

United Nations Statistics Division. (2009). Millennium Development Goals Database. Retrieved May 16, 2010 from http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=gender+parity+index&d.

Usher, A., & Cervenan, A. (2005). Global higher education rankings 2005. Toronto: Educational Policy Institute.