{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129220"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129220","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"The experiences of graduate students with disabilities","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Jones, Ann Christine"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Tarconish, Emily J","Hale, Jon N","Baber, Lorenzo DuBois","Goodnight, Melissa Rae"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-04-18","date_published":"2025-04-18","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:04Z","subjects":["disabilities","graduate students","postsecondary education"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Ann Jones"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129220","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Tarconish, Emily J","Hale, Jon N","Baber, Lorenzo DuBois","Goodnight, Melissa Rae"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Jones, Ann Christine"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-04-18","2025-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["disabilities","graduate students","postsecondary education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Ann Jones"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129220"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","The student, Ann Jones, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-18 at 12:33.","The student, Ann Jones, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-18 at 12:39.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-18 at 16:09.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21835 on 2025-10-19 at 18:09:32","According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2019-20, 11% of all graduate students self-reported having a disability (Postsecondary National Policy Institute, 2023), constituing a large proportion of graduate students attending postsecondary education. There is, however, a limited amount of literature that explores the experiences of graduate students with disabilities as they navigate academic environments that were not established with the needs of disabled people in mind. As such, there is a need to examine these individuals’ narratives to develop a clearer understanding of their lived experiences and needs. As the population of students entering graduate level education continues to rise, there comes with it an increase in students with disabilities. While most literature on graduate students with disabilities are autoethnographies, the current study uses interviews to collect qualitative narratives from students in various programs, colleges, and with varying disabilities. While most studies on graduate students with disabilities have focused on PhD students, this study shares the experiences of both PhD and master’s students. This exploratory study identified themes across the experiences of graduate students with disabilities. It centered on the perspectives of graduate students with disabilities, specifically focusing on their lived experiences regarding ableism in academia, and their experiences inside and outside the classroom. The goal of this research was to learn to whom they disclose their disability and why, what barriers exist in receiving disability services, and what supports are most beneficial for them in their academic graduate education. Three major themes were determined from the analysis of the data: 1. Disability disclosure is necessary, 2. Ableism in academia is a barrier, and 3. Letters of accommodations are not enough. This study recommends increased assistance by institutions for graduate students with disabilities. Institutions need to adopt an intersectional and holistic approach to support graduate students with disabilities to lessen the stigma of disabilities and provide them with the greatest opportunity for success. Training for faculty and staff on disabilities needs to occur, as well as the creation of mentor and peer support networks such as the establishment of a disability cultural center."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The experiences of graduate students with disabilities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Tarconish, Emily J","Hale, Jon N","Baber, Lorenzo DuBois","Goodnight, Melissa Rae"],"dc:creator":["Jones, Ann Christine"],"dc:date":["2025-04-18","2025-05"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","The student, Ann Jones, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-18 at 12:33.","The student, Ann Jones, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-18 at 12:39.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-18 at 16:09.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21835 on 2025-10-19 at 18:09:32","According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2019-20, 11% of all graduate students self-reported having a disability (Postsecondary National Policy Institute, 2023), constituing a large proportion of graduate students attending postsecondary education. There is, however, a limited amount of literature that explores the experiences of graduate students with disabilities as they navigate academic environments that were not established with the needs of disabled people in mind. As such, there is a need to examine these individuals’ narratives to develop a clearer understanding of their lived experiences and needs. As the population of students entering graduate level education continues to rise, there comes with it an increase in students with disabilities. While most literature on graduate students with disabilities are autoethnographies, the current study uses interviews to collect qualitative narratives from students in various programs, colleges, and with varying disabilities. While most studies on graduate students with disabilities have focused on PhD students, this study shares the experiences of both PhD and master’s students. This exploratory study identified themes across the experiences of graduate students with disabilities. It centered on the perspectives of graduate students with disabilities, specifically focusing on their lived experiences regarding ableism in academia, and their experiences inside and outside the classroom. The goal of this research was to learn to whom they disclose their disability and why, what barriers exist in receiving disability services, and what supports are most beneficial for them in their academic graduate education. Three major themes were determined from the analysis of the data: 1. Disability disclosure is necessary, 2. Ableism in academia is a barrier, and 3. Letters of accommodations are not enough. This study recommends increased assistance by institutions for graduate students with disabilities. Institutions need to adopt an intersectional and holistic approach to support graduate students with disabilities to lessen the stigma of disabilities and provide them with the greatest opportunity for success. Training for faculty and staff on disabilities needs to occur, as well as the creation of mentor and peer support networks such as the establishment of a disability cultural center."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129220"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Ann Jones"],"dc:subject":["disabilities","graduate students","postsecondary education"],"dc:title":["The experiences of graduate students with disabilities"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:04Z"}