International Exchange for All

By Susan Sygall, CEO, Mobility International USA, USA, www.miusa.org

When I look back on my life, there are few things more exciting, more exhilarating and more important than the time I spent as an exchange student doing graduate work at the University of Queensland in Australia. I was fortunate to have received a Rotary scholarship which enabled me to explore the Outback and hitch-hike through New Zealand, but this experience also gave me the opportunity to ask the most important question that would guide the rest of my professional career: “Where are all the students with disabilities?” I was one of only three students with a disability on the campus, the other two students both being Australian. As an American student who was a wheelchair rider, I was shocked to realize that there were so few students with disabilities having the opportunity to volunteer, research or study abroad. Why was this? I asked myself. Why wouldn’t students with disabilities from anywhere in the world not want to have the same opportunities as non-disabled students to have the time of their life and have an experience that will enhance their future career? Perhaps the statistics tell the story best. Ten years ago the representation of people with disabilities in study-abroad programs was less than 1%. Today, this figure has increased to 3% [1]; however, this is still a disproportionate representation compared to the number of people with disabilities present in the general population. So what can we as professionals in higher education do to ensure students with all types of disabilities have access to an international educational experience that we know is so life-changing?

Here are some tips that may be helpful:

1. Be sure to include language in your website and brochures, such as “people with disabilities are encouraged to apply”.

2. Utilize pictures of and quotes from students with different disabilities in your website, brochure and other materials to show that exchange students are included in the body of your institution.

3. Make a coffee date with the staff that work at the disabled students’ office or equivalent in your educational setting and have them meet those who work in your study-abroad office. Both offices have unique expertise that can help to recruit and provide tips for the accommodation of students with disabilities.

4. Insert study-abroad information in all orientation packets for students with disabilities. Be sure you have materials in alternate formats for students with visual disabilities.

5. Invite study-abroad alumni with disabilities to write about their experiences and post this material on your website and blogs so that the evidence that students with disabilities are succeeding in a variety of settings and programs will encourage others to apply.

6. Don’t accept pre-conceived notions of what is possible. Don’t direct students in wheelchairs toward the most accessible countries. A student of any disability has the right to have the same opportunity as the non-disabled student, and as with all students, once they have the best information about what to expect, they can make their own decision about the risks and challenges they may want to face.

7. Begin with the power of Yes. Once the student meets the criteria for enrolling on a program begin to think how, not if, they can do it. Your encouragement, or lack of it, may be the deciding factor in that student’s future.

8. You don’t have to have all the answers or be the expert - there are many resources to help guide you and give you the forms, information and contacts to assist you in your goal of providing equal opportunities to students with disabilities.

Despite the difficulties this is a most exciting time in history. The disability rights movement achieved a huge milestone when the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force in 2008.

As the fastest negotiated human rights Convention in history, it has gathered 144 signatory countries to date. The international agreement formally recognizes disability rights as a human rights issue and affirms the right to an inclusive education system at all levels without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity. Any student who chooses to study in the USA is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, so that they can access the same support services as US students, such as sign-language interpreters, note takers, and information in alternate formats, such as large print or adaptive computer software.

The European Association for International Education (EAIE) has a dynamic special interest group, Disability Issues Worldwide (DIW), which aspires to link up the different disability projects taking place across the world, strengthening the impact of each initiative at an international level. It is important to remember that there are 600 million people with disabilities in the world and their future relies heavily on the ability to access higher education. When we work toward making our higher-education institutions accessible to students with disabilities, it benefits all of us. Equally important is the right of every student with a disability to have the same opportunity as their non-disabled peers. My exchange year changed my career path, leading me to become the co-founder of an organization aiming to increase the number of students with disabilities in all types of international exchange. Nowadays I work internationally, networking and attending conferences in the hope that all of us in the field can share strategies and resources toward our common goal of providing the best possible higher education experiences for all.

[1] Institute of International Education, Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, 2009

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Anglohigher®

Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2010, AngloHigher® The Magazine of Global English Speaking Higher Education™, ISSN 2041-8469 (Online)

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