The Gender Dimension of the Inclusion: The Case of the Western Siberian Universities

The paper focuses on the attitude of university staff towards students with disabilities and on the readiness for inclusive higher education in members of the academic staff. It is stressed that one of the main tasks of the resource and training centers network is to help overcome such powerful barriers as social stereotypes and incompetence in inclusive education and to assist university teachers in establishing contacts and interaction with students with disabilities. The paper presents a study that involved 2181 university teachers from 10 universities of the Tyumen region. The study had two objectives: first, to explore the attitude of the academic staff of the universities to students with disabilities and the former’s readiness for inclusive education; secondly, to reveal gender differences in relation to inclusion. The main outcomes of the study are as follows. Women working in higher education are more positive towards inclusive education and its prospects, more tolerant and sympathetic to persons with disabilities. They are more focused on active inclusive behavior, on acquiring new knowledge and skills, and on rendering extensive support to students with disabilities. They value their own skills and competencies in inclusive teaching and collaboration highly enough. The paper concludes that women working at the universities of the Tyumen regions are an important resource for achieving the goals of resource training centers in the field of inclusive higher education.

1. Alekhina S.V., Alekseeva M.N., Agafonova E.L. Gotovnost’ pedagogov kak osnovnoi faktor uspeshnosti inklyuzivnogo processa v obrazovanii [Preparedness of Teachers as the Main Factor of Success of the Inclusive Process in Education]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [ Psychological science and education], 2011, no.1, pp. 83—93. (In Russ.,abstr. in Engl.)
2. Volosnikova L.M., Efimova G.Z., Ogorodnova O.V. Riski obrazovatel’noi inklyuzii: opyt regional’nogo issledovaniya Tyumenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Risks of educational inclusion]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological science and education], 2017. Vol 22, no. 1, pp. 98—105. doi:10.17759/pse.2017220112. (In Russ.,abstr. in Engl.)
3. Zhenshchiny i muzhchiny Rossii. Statisticheskii sbornik [Women and thinking]. Moscow: Rosstat, 2016. 208 p.
4. Karynbaeva O.V. Podgotovka pedagogov v dopolnitel’nom professional’nom obrazovanii k formirovaniyu inklyuzivnoi obrazovatel’noi sredy v obshcheobrazovatel’nyh organizaciyah. Diss. kand. ped. nauk. [Preparing on teachers in additive education]. Tol’yatti, 2015.
5. Kulagina E.V. Obrazovanie detei-invalidov i detei s ogranichennymi vozmozhnostyami zdorov’ya: tendencii i kriterii regulirovaniya [Education of invalids]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [ Sociologic research], 2015, no. 9, pp. 94—101.
6. Kuchmaeva O.V., Petrakova O.L., Sabitova G.V. Parametry vybora modeli obrazovaniya dlya detei s ogranichennymi vozmozhnostyami zdorov’ya [Choise of educational model for children with disabilities]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [ Sociologic research], 2014, no. 8, pp. 119—127.
7. Malyarchuk N.N., Volosnikova L.M. Gotovnost’ pedagogov k rabote v usloviyah inklyuzivnogo obrazovaniya [Readiness of teachers for inclusive teaching]. Vestnik Tyumenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya. Humanitates [Vestnik], 2015. Vol. 1, no. 4 (4), pp. 251—267.
8. Margolis A.A., Rubtsov V.V., Serebryannikova O.A. Promoting the Quality and Accessibility of Higher Education for People with Disabilities in the Russian Federation. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological Science and Education], 2017. Vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 10—17. doi:10.17759/pse.2017220103. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.) (In Russ.,abstr. in Engl.)
9. Pevzner M.N., Petryakov P.A., SHirin A.G. Podgotovka pedagogov k rabote v geterogennoi srede: koncepciya i ozhidaemye rezul’taty novogo mezhdunarodnogo proekta [Education of teachers to work in heterogeneous condition]. Nepreryvnoe obrazovanie [ Permanent education], 2014. Vyp. 4, pp. 4—10.
10. Pugach V.F. Gendernyi sostav prepodavatelei rossiiskih vuzov [Gender staff of teachers in high education]. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii [High education in Russia], 2015. Vol. 24, no. 12, pp. 78—88.
11. Selivanova Y.V., Shchetinina E.B. Gotovnost’ prepodavatelei k obucheniyu studentov s invalidnost’yu i ogranichennymi vozmozhnostyami zdorov’ya [Readiness of teachers for inclusive teaching of disabled students]. Sibirskii pedagogicheskii zhurnal [Siberian pedagogic journal], 2017, no. 2, pp. 65—70.
12. Romanov P.V., Yarskaya-Smirnova E.R. Politika invalidnosti: Social’noe grazhdanstvo invalidov v sovremennoy Rossii [Policy of disability]. Saratov: Publ. «Nauchnaya kniga», 2006. 260 p.
13. Yarskaya V.N., Yarskaya-Smirnova E.R. Inklyuzivnaya kul’tura social’nyh servisov [Inclusive culture of social services]. Sociologicheskie issledovaniya [Social research], 2015, no. 12, pp. 133—140.
14. Yarskaya-Smirnova, Romanov P.V., Zaycev D.V., Naberushkina E.K. Politika v sfere vysshego obrazovaniya invalidov [Policy in the sphere of inclusive education]. Zhurnal issledovanii social’noi politiki [Journal of research of social policy], 2004. Vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 91—114
15. Antonak R.F., Livneh H. Measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 2000. Vol. 22(5), pp. 211—224.
16. Bashir Abu-H. Faculty Attitudes toward SD in a Public University in Jordan. International Education Studies, 2013. Vol. 6(12).
17. Dallas Bryan K. et al. Post-Secondary Faculty Attitudes Toward Inclusive Teaching Strategies. Journal of rehabilitation, 2014. Vol. 80(2), pp. 12—20.
18. Dessemontet R., Morin D., Crocker A. Exploring the Relations between In-service Training, Prior Contacts and Teachers’ Attitudes towards Persons with Intellectual Disability. International journal of disability development and education, 2014. Vol 61(1), pp. 16—26.
19. Morina A., Cortes-Vega M., Molina V. What if we could imagine the ideal faculty? Proposals for improvement by university students with disabilities. Teaching and teacher education, 2015. Vol. 52, pp. 91—98.
20. Rao S. Faculty attitudes and students with disabilities in higher education: A literature review. College Student Journal, 2002. Vol. 38(2).
21. Vogel S., Leyser Y., Wyland S., Brulle A. Studentswith learning disabilities in higher education: Faculty attitude and practices. Learning Disabilities Research&Practice, 1999. Vol. 14(3), pp. 173—186.

PlumX

article metrics