Academic Mobility from the Perspective of Students with Disabilities

Tema ovoga rada je akademska mobilnost studenata koja je istražena iz perspektive podzastupljene skupine u visokom obrazovanju, studenata s invaliditetom. Cilj istraživanja je opisati i razumjeti akademsku mobilnost studenata iz perspektive studenata s invaliditetom. U sklopu rada, provedeno je kvalitativno istraživanje među studentima s invaliditetom prijediplomskih i diplomskih studija na Sveučilištu u Rijeci. Istraživanje je provedenu u travnju i svibnju 2023. godine putem polustrukturiranih intervjua, a u njemu je sudjelovalo 11 sudionika. Većina sudionika smatra da nisu dovoljni informirani o akademskoj mobilnosti, a kao najčešći izvor informacija navode fakultet. Niti jedan sudionik istraživanja nije dosada sudjelovalo u programima akademske mobilnosti, no dio sudionika izražava motivaciju za sudjelovanjem. Kao prednosti sudjelovanja u programima akademske mobilnosti, sudionici uočavaju stjecanje novih znanja i iskustva, razvijanje samostalnosti i samopouzdanja, upoznavanje s novom zemljom, kulturama, ljudima i obrazovanjem strane zemlje te bolje mogućnosti za studente s invaliditetom u stranoj zemlji. Pri sudjelovanju u programima akademske mobilnosti, sudionici smatraju da bi izazov predstavljala potreba za podrškom i asistentom, kulturološke barijere, prostorne barijere, barijere vezane za studij, zdravstvene barijere, emocionalno – socijalne barijere te financijske barijere. Sudionici navode veliki broj preporuka za koje smatraju da bi rezultirale većim sudjelovanjem studenata s invaliditetom u programima akademske mobilnosti te među njima ističu potrebu za promjenom i novitetima u programima mobilnosti, istraživanje perspektive studenata s invaliditetom, reklamiranje i informiranje o programima akademske mobilnosti, osiguranje podrške na programu akademske mobilnosti te novčane poticaje.The topic of this thesis is the academic mobility of students, which was investigated from the perspective of an underrepresented group in higher education, students with disabilities. The aim of the research is to describe and understand academic mobility from the perspective of students with disabilities. As part of this thesis, qualitative research was conducted among 11 students with disabilities in undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Rijeka. The research was conducted in April and May 2023 through a semi-structured interview. Most of the participants believe that they are not sufficiently informed about academic mobility and they cite the faculty as the most common source of information. None of the participants has participated in academic mobility programs so far, but some of the participants express their motivation to participate. As advantages of participating in academic mobility programs, participants see gaining new knowledge and experience, developing independence and self-confidence, getting to know a new country, cultures, people and education of a foreign country, as well as better opportunities for students with disabilities in a foreign country. When participating in academic mobility programs, participants believe that the need for support and an assistant, cultural barriers, spatial barriers, study-related barriers, health barriers, emotional-social barriers and financial barriers would be a challenge for them. The participants state a large number of recommendations that they believe would result in greater participation of students with disabilities in academic mobility programs, and among them they emphasize the need for change and innovations in mobility programs, research into the perspectives of students with disabilities, advertising and informing about mobility programs, ensuring support for mobility program and financial support