Relationship between nature and extent of social inclusion and academic performance of students with disabilities in six Kenyan Universities

Abstract

Globally, the academic performance of students with disabilities is affected by lack of social inclusion. Although Kenyan universities have made academic progress in social inclusion policies, the actual adoption and practice of social inclusion are still limited. The objective for the study was to assess the nature and extent of social inclusion of students with disability in six universities in Kenya. The study was anchored on Social Action Systems Theory. The study was conducted in six universities in Kenya, namely, University of Nairobi, Kenya University, Maseno University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Catholic university of Eastern Africa and United States International University-Africa. The study targeted students with disability, Registrar Academic Affairs, Dean of Student Affairs, Deans of Schools, Director Disability Unit, disability student leaders and Students without disability. Six universities were selected purposively while students with disability were sampled by simple random method. Director disability unit, registrar academics affairs, dean student affairs and disability student leaders were sampled by census method. Deans of schools and students without disability were sample purposive method. For quantitative data, descriptive data and correlation analysis was adopted to analyze the results with the help of SPSS version 27. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically.  The sample size for the study was 220 respondents. The findings indicated that 60% of students with disability were satisfied with the library, 60% reported never or rarely accessing assistive devices and 43.8% were dissatisfied with co-curricular activities. The paper underscores the need for social inclusion efforts in higher learning institutions by advocating for holistic student engagement in universities. The study concluded that there are significant gaps in infrastructure and assistive technology in universities in Kenya which limit participation of students with disabilities thus hindering their hindering their academic performance. The study recommends enhancing accessibility across physical, academic and digital environments. University policies should mandate accessibility standards in infrastructure development, learning resources and service delivery.