ISO report: Give impaired students enough study time
More than half of all students face a disability or “special circumstances.” This causes study delays and makes it more difficult to do interesting things besides studying, according to the Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg.
Some students struggle with physical problems, psychological obstacles, or an illness. Others, for example, have informal care responsibilities or a child. Still others have relationship problems. All in all, more than half of the students are affected.
Some of these students experience study problems, it appeared earlier. This applies to 39 percent of students with a functional impairment (the largest group), but also to half of all students with relationship problems.
The Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg wanted to know more about it and commissioned the Nijmegen agency ResearchNed to conduct further research. Nearly 1,500 students with a “support need” from WO (higher education in science/academia) and HBO (vocational education) completed a special questionnaire.
These were mainly students with concentration problems and mental illnesses, for example. Autism (19 percent) is mentioned relatively often. A small group are top athletes or entrepreneurs and thus need support for completely different reasons.
Difficulties
Roughly two-thirds of the respondents say they experience difficulties in following their studies or internships, half of whom suffer “a little” and the other half “substantially.”
This can sometimes lead to study delays. Especially the small group of pulmonary covid patients report a delay: more than half of them are significantly delayed. If several problems come together, affected students also often fall behind. Few of them are aware that they can make use of facilities. For example, one in three pulmonary covid patients had missed out on this.
Study experience
But the study experience consists of more than just passing courses. These students may also find it harder to engage in “extracurricular” activities, i.e., participate in committees, trips, and other pursuits outside of classes. This is something 40 percent have substantial trouble with, and another 27 percent “somewhat.”
All in all, reason enough for institutions to take another good look at all the barriers mentioned, the ISO believes. “This survey is a wake-up call for everyone in higher education,” says president Van der Velden. “A student’s study experience in higher education should not suffer because they have a support need.”
