The Nexus of Dis/Ability, Education and Social Inequality: Vocational Training and Higher Education in Germany

Abstract

Education increasingly determines social status and opportunities for meaningful participation. To ensure more equity among diverse student bodies, inclusive education has become a human right and a global norm. Sociological research has to some extent analyzed the nexus of dis/ability, education, and inequalities, yet far more attention has been paid to socio-economic status, gender, and race and ethnicity. While studies of educational opportunities of disabled youth and young adults exist, systematic approaches to understand stigmatization, segregation, and educational and social exclusion as well as their consequences are less advanced than for other ascriptive characteristics. Examining constrained learning opportunities in vocational training and higher education in Germany’s selective and segregated education system, we explore the nexus of dis/ability, education, and social inequality.

Keywords

• disability
• education
• special educational needs
• vocational training
• higher education
• inequality