How can you make higher education more inclusive?

1 Understand the barriers

The first step to making higher education more inclusive is to understand the barriers that some students face in accessing and succeeding in higher education. These barriers can include financial constraints, lack of academic preparation, discrimination, isolation, cultural mismatch, mental health issues, and more. By recognizing and addressing these barriers, you can create a more supportive and equitable environment for all students.

2 Provide multiple pathways

Not all students have the same goals, interests, and needs when it comes to higher education. Therefore, you should provide multiple pathways for students to pursue their education, such as online courses, flexible schedules, prior learning recognition, credit transfer, dual enrollment, and more. By offering multiple pathways, you can increase the accessibility and affordability of higher education, and allow students to customize their learning experience according to their preferences and circumstances.

3 Foster a sense of belonging

Another way to make higher education more inclusive is to foster a sense of belonging among students, especially those who feel marginalized or underrepresented in higher education. You can do this by creating a welcoming and respectful campus culture, promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives, providing mentoring and peer support programs, encouraging student engagement and participation, and celebrating student achievements and contributions. By fostering a sense of belonging, you can enhance the academic and social outcomes of students, and reduce the risk of dropout and attrition.

4 Incorporate universal design

Universal design is a concept that aims to make products, services, and environments accessible and usable for everyone, regardless of their abilities, disabilities, or other characteristics. You can incorporate universal design in higher education by designing your courses, curricula, assessments, and materials in a way that meets the diverse learning needs and preferences of students. For example, you can use multiple modes of delivery, representation, expression, and feedback, provide options and choices for students, and ensure that your content is clear, relevant, and engaging. By incorporating universal design, you can improve the quality and effectiveness of your teaching and learning, and increase the satisfaction and retention of students.

5 Seek feedback and improvement

Finally, you can make higher education more inclusive by seeking feedback and improvement from your students, colleagues, and stakeholders. You can do this by conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, and evaluations to gather data and insights on the strengths and weaknesses of your higher education practices. You can also participate in professional development, networking, and collaboration opportunities to learn from others and share your experiences and best practices. By seeking feedback and improvement, you can identify and address the gaps and challenges in your higher education system, and continuously strive to make it more inclusive for everyone.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?