Post-secondary students with disabilities share stories of belonging

Abstract

This study examined a sense of belonging as integral to inclusion for students with disabilities within a post-secondary context. Grounded in a critical disability lens, coupled with identity theories, a narrative research approach was used. Nine students with disabilities from a small, Canadian, rural college shared stories of belonging and of the significance they ascribe to belonging in their overall post-secondary experience. Three prominent themes, narratives of becoming a student, narratives of engagement and narratives of barriers to belonging were uncovered. Narratives of becoming a student relate to the development of a student identity and its reciprocal relationship to the development of a sense of belonging. Narratives of engagement capture the positive and/or negative interactions of students with faculty and peers and the impact on belongingness. Narratives of barriers to belonging highlight the environmental, physical, systemic and attitudinal obstacles encountered by students. Analyzing narrative accounts through critical disability and identity frameworks revealed in-depth understandings of students’ belonging experiences. Results of this study offer both theoretical and practical implications for institutions to consider in their commitment to cultivating belonging-centred campuses. Further, I suggest including disability as part of institutional diversity and also the use of a multifaceted critical lens of identity and disability in which to view stories of belonging.