Project period: September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2024
Project Management: Prof. Dr. Alfons Hollederer, Section "Theory and Empirics of Health"
Subproject Management: Prof. Dr. Felix Welti, Section “Social Law and Healthcare, Rehabilitation and Disability Law”
Subproject Management: Dr. Shweta Mishra, International Centre for Higher Education Research (INCHER-Kassel)
The aim of the project is to explore the success in higher education among students with chronic illnesses and disabilities at the University of Kassel. The focus of this research is to analyse the effects of testing accommodations, psychosocial counseling, health promotion, disability-related social-welfare benefits, and social networks on the academic success and the intent to persist at or drop-out from the university. The study utilises a mixed-methods-design and contains three modules.
The first module is based on quantitative-empirical methods. All approximately 25.000 students of the University of Kassel are surveyed on health and academic success, disadvantage compensation, study-related and psychosocial counseling, health promotion, and inclusion at two measurement time points.
Module 2 uses qualitative-empirical methods by using grounded theory for the analysis. Focus is on the impacts of compensation of disadvantages, social-welfare benefits, and social networks on academic success of students with disabilities.
Module 3 analyses German and Hessian law in the context of higher education for students with disabilities or chronic illnesses and its applications. The results of the legal analysis will be contrasted with the results of module 1 and 2.
The study integrates both quantifiable factors as well as subjective assessments of the students and their perceptions of social support and networks. Another distinctive feature of this research is the interdisciplinarity and the cooperation between Health Sciences, Higher Education Research as well as Rehabilitation and Disability Law. Our findings will result in best-practice recommendations concerning disadvantage compensation and social services to promote sustainable academic success in college students with disabilities and illnesses.
