Twenty Years of Disability Research: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Almost one in five Australians (18%) and nearing one in 10 of our student population (9%) are disabled, so it is unsurprising that disability is a priority area for the Universities Accord process in Australia, and similar processes around the world. We sought to explore how contributors to the Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice have advanced the knowledge surrounding disability inclusion in universities through their publications in the journal. We identified only three articles that were primarily or explicitly about aspects of teaching and learning for higher education students with disability, alongside 48 that tangentially mentioned higher education students with disability. Other articles included the search terms (such as disab*) but made only passing reference to disability or were not about disabled students in higher education. We provide recommendations for authors, reviewers and editors to consider as they reflect on how they can contribute to the conversation, and to the improvement of educational opportunities and outcomes for disabled students.