A Comparative Study of the Experience of Disabled and Non-Disabled Students on Professional Practice Placements
type: CreativeWork
description: The experience of disabled students in UK higher education has been the subject of research for many years, particularly following legislation in 2001 that introduced responsibilities on universities to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students. Most of this research has focused solely on the experience of disabled students, and typically only within one discipline, with limited comparison with their non-disabled peers; particularly in the context of students’ experience on practice placements where professional competencies are developed and assessed. This thesis therefore sought to address this gap in the research by investigating the experience of disabled and non-disabled students on practice placements across six professional disciplines, utilising a mixed methods research design. Students at a Scottish University who were studying medicine, nursing, dentistry, education, social work or community education were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey and a follow-up semi-structured interview. These particular disciplines were selected on the basis of enabling comparison with previous research and also to explore the dichotomy between the social and medical approaches to disability; and the potential impact of these approaches on the experience of disabled students. Over 350 students responded to the survey from all six disciplines and a total of 21 interviews were conducted with disabled and non-disabled students. The results were also compared with the student placement feedback obtained independently by the individual disciplines involved in the research. Many students provided positive feedback on their placement experience and clearly valued this as preparation for their future careers. The students’ relationship with their placement supervisor was also clearly an influence on the quality of their placement experience. However, statistical analyses revealed that disabled students’ overall rating for their placement experience was lower …
abstract: The experience of disabled students in UK higher education has been the subject of research for many years, particularly following legislation in 2001 that introduced responsibilities on universities to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students. Most of this research has focused solely on the experience of disabled students, and typically only within one discipline, with limited comparison with their non-disabled peers; particularly in the context of students’ experience on practice placements where professional competencies are developed and assessed. This thesis therefore sought to address this gap in the research by investigating the experience of disabled and non-disabled students on practice placements across six professional disciplines, utilising a mixed methods research design. Students at a Scottish University who were studying medicine, nursing, dentistry, education, social work or community education were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey and a follow-up semi-structured interview. These particular disciplines were selected on the basis of enabling comparison with previous research and also to explore the dichotomy between the social and medical approaches to disability; and the potential impact of these approaches on the experience of disabled students. Over 350 students responded to the survey from all six disciplines and a total of 21 interviews were conducted with disabled and non-disabled students. The results were also compared with the student placement feedback obtained independently by the individual disciplines involved in the research. Many students provided positive feedback on their placement experience and clearly valued this as preparation for their future careers. The students’ relationship with their placement supervisor was also clearly an influence on the quality of their placement experience. However, statistical analyses revealed that disabled students’ overall rating for their placement experience was lower …
author: Hill, Shirley
language: eng
keywords: Disability, Students, Experience, Professional Programmes, Practice Placements, Higher education, Disclosure, Identity
date published: 2014
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:07:52Z
provider: University of Dundee
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Dundee