The number of people with disabilities and higher education grows by 17%

The growth of the population with disabilities in active age and who have higher education has been constant. In 2013, 15% of this population had higher education, assuming an increase of more than 60,000 people compared to 2009.

Specifically, 17.3% of people with physical disabilities have completed higher education, 17.1% of the group with mental illness and 16.1% of people with sensory disability in 2013. However, during the The same period also increased the number of people without disabilities who attended higher education, which keeps the difference of 10 points between the two groups.

All these data that we have just mentioned have a direct relationship with people with functional diversity: employability. The higher a person's educational level, the more likely they are to find a job. However, it is not always so easy because there are numerous barriers in the labor market.


Barriers to access training

In 2012, more than 60% of people with disabilities between the ages of 15 and 64 claimed to have found some type of barrier to access training activities, as reflected in the INE's Social Integration and Health Survey.

1. The teaching methodology does not encourage inclusion

Many students with disabilities recognize that the teaching methodology does not favor the inclusion of students. Given this, the teaching staff should have a systematic training program, supported by a serious university policy.

2. There is a legal vacuum in the rights of university students with disabilities


Although there is a regulation that protects young people with disabilities, many times it is not applied in the classrooms, there is a legal vacuum. Therefore this is an obstacle for all those with disabilities who want to access a university education.

3. The negative attitude of teachers towards disability

The main problem recognized by students with disabilities in higher education is the negative attitude teachers show towards them. The faculty is not too informed about the reality of the student with disability and needs to deepen in order to contemplate their needs.

In addition to the difference between the group of people with and without disabilities, there are obvious differences between Autonomous Communities. Castilla La Mancha, Extremadura, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia are the communities with the highest rate of people with disabilities who have only completed primary school. While the Communities of Navarre, Madrid, Basque Country and La Rioja recorded the highest percentages with higher education.


María Rojas Sanabria

It may interest you:

- How to guide parents of disabled children to facilitate and promote the social inclusion of their children?

- More employment for recent graduates, but of lower quality

- 5% of young Spaniards do not study or seek employment

- One third of students receive extra-curricular assistance

Video: MacArthur Geniuses: Overcoming Barriers to STEM Education Hosted by Benetech & The Commonwealth Club


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