Analysis of the Academic Participation of Students with Sensory Disabilities in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze the academic participation of students with sensory disabilities in the different disciplinary areas of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, as well as their facilitators and barriers, both in comparison with their cohort and in the distinction between hearing and visual disability. Thus, this study can become a contribution to the discussion on the role of support programs which promote inclusive and equitable participation of students with sensory disabilities in higher education. For this purpose, a mixed methodological approach, quantitative and qualitative, was used. Among the main results, the greater presence of situations of not continuing studies and the lower academic achievement of students with sensory disabilities compared to the total number of students in their respective programs, especially in Natural Sciences and Mathematics careers, as well as the acknowledgement that interaction between characteristics of their school trajectories, of the teaching and learning processes in higher education and, particularly, of the disciplinary areas, in addition to the type and degree of disability, are factors that facilitate and hinder the academic experience of students with sensory disabilities at UC.