Facilitators and barriers to learning faced by female students with disability in higher education
Hanan M. AlTaleb,
Dalal A. Alsaleh,
Anwar S. Alshammari,
Shatha M. Alsomairy,
Shahad M. Alsuaqir,
Lama A. Alsaleem,
Asma B. Omer,
Ruqaiyah Khan,
Reem M. Alwhaibi
Affiliations
Hanan M. AlTaleb
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Dalal A. Alsaleh
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Anwar S. Alshammari
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Shatha M. Alsomairy
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Shahad M. Alsuaqir
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Lama A. Alsaleem
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Asma B. Omer
Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Ruqaiyah Khan
Basic Science Department, Deanship of Preparatory Year, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
Reem M. Alwhaibi
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author.
This study was aimed to investigate the learning experiences' facilitators and barriers that is encountered by the physically disabled female students during their higher education. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with female students with physical disabilities aged between 19 and 33 years. Interviews were transcribed, confirmed, and analyzed after being recorded. The average age of the sample was 22.15 ± 3.48 years and one-fourth of the participants’ disability was due to cerebral palsy and 35% participants used wheelchairs. All the factors promoted inclusive education and equal opportunities for both disabled and nondisabled students. This study reveals that in order to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities (SwD) and to give them more opportunities for success, it is important to consider all the barriers discussed in this study. It can be concluded that high effort is required to transform the higher educational institutions to be more accommodating for students with disabilities.
