Students with Disabilities in Education Abroad:
Statistical Data and Long-Term Impact Findings
Council on International Educational Exchange Conference
Santa Fe, New Mexico
November 10-13, 2004
Statistical online survey conducted by
Institute of International Education and
Mobility International USA/
National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange
Focus Groups and Interviews conducted by
Mobility International USA/
National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange
of Council on International Educational Exchange Alumni
Contact:
Michele Scheib
Mobility International USA
mscheib@miusa.org
541-343-1284 (tel/tty)
www.miusa.org
To view the pdf of this article, including graphs, please click here.
2004 Online Statistical Survey of Students with Disabilities
in Education Abroad
Annually IIE collects data on inbound and outbound students and reports its findings in Open Doors. IIE is also a partner in the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, coordinated by Mobility International USA and funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. In 2004, as part of their commitment to the Clearinghouse, IIE did an online survey of U.S. education abroad staff on students with disabilities. Sixty-nine institutions responded; one more than a similar survey conducted by IIE and the Clearinghouse in 1998. Forty-one provided specific numbers on the total students studying abroad at their institutions, representing 10% of all students who studied abroad last year.
Three percent of the total number of students they sent abroad were students with disabilities (up from less than 1% in the 1998 survey). If one does not count the third-party provider who responded to the 2004 survey and sent the largest number of students with disabilities abroad, the percentage is closer to 2%. Private institutions and Baccalaureate institutions sent a slight percentage more of students with disabilities than other types of colleges and universities. In the 1998 survey, those with learning/attention and psychiatric disabilities made up slightly less than half of those with disabilities sent abroad. In the 2004 survey, 80% were students with learning/attention or psychiatric disabilities, with about 9% of the students having mobility or sensory impairments and another 9% having systemic disabilities, such as epilepsy or lupus.
The results of the survey are both the good news and bad news.
The good news in the data is that 505 students are more prepared for the challenges of an increasingly interdependent world community. One of those students may be the next Madeleine Albright. The bad news is that only 505 of the thousands of qualified, eager and interested students with disabilities actually went overseas. And one of the students who did not participate might also have had that same world-transforming potential.
The good news is that growing numbers of schools are gaining experience working with students with disabilities, and those schools will be more prepared when the next student with a disability comes through the door. In 1998 two-thirds had sent no students with disabilities abroad, compared to only one-third this year. The bad news is that the majority of schools are not moving toward comparable representation of students with disabilities in these international programs. Students with disabilities typically total 9% of the general campus population, yet only 3 institutions (one private doctoral/research university and two associate’s degree colleges) reached comparable percentage in their study abroad populations.
But even with the bad news, the survey offers hope. Since there are very little data on people with disabilities in educational abroad, the IIE survey is a breakthrough in and of itself. It offers hard data to inform the field of international education and by the very asking, raises the profile of this issue nationally to a new level. IIE's leadership on this issue and its systematic process will show us where exchange programs are failing to measure up on inclusion. For example, students with physical disabilities are only 4% of the students with disabilities that participate in study abroad but they make up 29% of students with disabilities on campus. How can programs work to remove barriers, which are significantly deterring students with this type of disability than others?
This survey also focuses much-needed attention on areas where programs need support to successfully accommodate more commonly served students with disabilities. For example, students with psychiatric and learning/attention disabilities are represented in study abroad almost three times as much as they are on college campuses (although this may less of a ratio if more recent campus statistics were available). What is it about study abroad that attracts students with these types of disabilities to apply at a greater rate and are education abroad staff prepared to successfully include them once in the program?
We don't have to wait for more information to move forward. The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange is developing strategies that international education institutions can use to increase participation by people with disabilities. Its recent book, Practice of Yes! Working with Overseas Partners to Successfully Include Students with Disabilities addresses potential attitudinal, cultural and logistical barriers and how to resolve them. Also NAFSA: Association of International Educators has a new committee that is looking into addressing the needs of serving students with psychiatric disabilities in programs abroad, which will be shared through conference presentations and publications.
As more students with disabilities participate in education abroad programs, international education represents the broad diversity of American students, these students gain momentum in achieving their potential in contributing to the world, and we all win.
Written by Michele Scheib, MIUSA Project Initiatives Specialist, adapted from previous article written by Carole Patterson, former project manager of the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange. MIUSA thanks Hey Kyung Koh, Peggy Blumenthal and Adria Gallup-Black for their work in crafting the IIE survey. To learn more about the assistance from the Clearinghouse, contact the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange at Tel/TTY: 541/343-1284, Fax: 541/343-6812, E-mail: clearinghouse@miusa.org or Website: www.miusa.org.
The percentages of students with disabilities in study abroad programs reported in the IIE/MIUSA online survey compared to the percentages on campuses nationwide of students with disabilities (U.S. Dept. of Education statistics from 1999-2000) are:
- 45% vs. 17% Psychiatric disability
- 35% vs. 11% Learning disability/ADD
- 9% vs. 15% Systemic/health-related disability
- 4% vs. 29% Physical disability
- 3% vs. 7% Deaf or hard of hearing
- 2% vs. 5% Blind or low vision
- 2% vs. 15% Other or unspecified disability
When asked how they gather the data, those that responded stated
it can be obtained from:
- 38% General Staff Knowledge of Student Disclosure or Disability
- 23% Study Abroad Files Medical/Accommodation Form
- 19% Disability Service Provider Cross-Checks Study Abroad List
- 10% Centralized Database at the University Records All Student Information
- 9% Disability Service Provider Tracks Study Abroad Activities in its Database
- <1% Study Abroad Database Would Use Confidential Codes
2004 Focus Groups and Interviews with CIEE Exchange Alumni with Disabilities Looking through a Different Lens: Short and Long Term Impacts on Alumni with Disabilities
After students return from study abroad, how have their lives been affected in the short-term and long-term? How have alumni’s knowledge, awareness and lives been changed as a result of a CIEE experience? When this is asked generally of students, the answers that emerge may seem to have covered the gamut of experiences. However, when adding diverse alumni perspectives and identities into the mix, other patterns may appear that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, though not necessarily unsubstantiated, within the general student population.
This qualitative research conducted by the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE), which is managed by Mobility International USA and funded by the U.S. Department of State, looked at the experiences of ten alumni with disabilities. They all studied during a summer or semester abroad over the past eight years with Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) programs. The students had physical, vision, hearing or health-related disabilities and studied in Australia, Brazil, Spain and Thailand. Four were young men, and four of the six women were from ethnic minority backgrounds.
For insight from other sojourners with disabilities on a variety of programs, NCDE/Mobility International USA’s Survival Strategies for Going Abroad: A Guide for People with Disabilities book provides reflections in its final chapter; see www.miusa.org/publications.
All alumni provided insights on how they felt their international exchange experience impacted, or were part of, their lives today
(On a 1-5 scale with 5 being the most impact)
“Five. Even though my primary reason to go abroad was to perfect Spanish, then to Brazil to learn and perfect Portuguese, it was so much more than that. It was being independent and getting to know the healthcare systems of those countries. Being in public health now, I speak three languages, I’ve been certified as a medical interpreter and that helps with the job I have now. And the experience helps me to have the interest in public health. Not just abroad but here with all the immigrants that we have in LA.”
“Five. I think it’s because of Spain that’s the reason I decided to go to law school. It’s also the reason why I decided to major in Spanish, so it set the path for what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It’s not exactly Spain in particular, but when I was over there, there were so many obstacles and it was very difficult. I remember talking to my roommate over there, complaining about this and that and she said, ‘Why don’t you just do something about it?’ so that’s when I started thinking about going to law school and that’s how I went down that path.”
“Five. I’m working at the Lion Center for the Blind as a rehabilitation teacher. I work with seniors mainly. I encourage people to travel with this support group there. I encourage them that no matter what life brings you, you can overcome it. If you want to travel, if you want to venture out, not to be afraid, but to go for it. I tell them that life is so short, they should enjoy it.”
“Four. I work for an organization of diversity; I think it is helping a lot there.”
“There’s a very strong relationship because the bank where I interviewed this morning, I was talking to them about international banking…I feel it’s an area of business that I can pursue in the future. I did know a little bit of Spanish, so we discussed international banking.”
“Three. It has affected my perspective of myself. It’s not directly related to my work…. I recently left my position. I was working in finance. I decided I didn’t want to do that particular position so I’m pursing something a little different. When I went abroad, I did not take a business focus, which is what I like to do.”
“I’m still working in my same vocational rehabilitation job…. [However] I was able to use my philosophical background, my Spanish experience, plus I’m deeply religious, all of those combinations, to write a book. It helped with my educational studies. I need to go again.”
“Two. The CIEE program wasn’t what I was doing or studying [international business]. [My later studies at Khon Kaen University for eight months] would be more related…it was most useful because it gave me a better view of what Thai business is really like. It was all business courses, and I was the only white guy there, and it was kind of fun.”
“One and half. I’m working for a very large import/export firm. I’m working on coordinating international shipments. I was hoping to get into something more related to Brazil, but here in LA we deal with a lot of Asian shipping. To a certain extent, it does help me appreciate other cultures and dealing with other people overseas.”
“One. Right now I’m not working; I’ve been pretty sick. I was doing accounting before; it was international accounting, but it wasn’t really related to anything I studied in Spain. That could change in the future.”
Eight alumni saw the overseas experience as helpful on their resumes, in job interviews or on graduate school admissions applications.
“I think it definitely helped me get into graduate school because I think that to study abroad, it says something about you. You have certain types of characteristics that you can adjust to different types of environments, you’re a people person.”
“When I was in Illinois and I was calling around because I knew I wanted to do my internship elsewhere, I called California. I called the Center for the Blind and said that ‘I would like to do my internship there.’ The director said, ‘Oh, I don’t know…you are going to move out here?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I’m willing to do it. I’ve been to Australia for nine moths with just my guide dog.’ The director said, ‘If you did that then you can come to California!’”
“I had told [my internship at the World Affairs Center] that I was going to Spain as far as my curriculum requirement and that when I returned, I need to do an internship. I think it did somewhat have an impact on their decision to hire me for the semester.”
“I would think [my international experience helped]. If not, just for the resume value, because it looks good on paper and it is such a good conversation topic.”
“I believe [my international experience helped]. When we went over my resume, we went over my educational history. I’m pretty sure it made a difference when they offered me the position.”
“I actually wrote my admissions letter [to Yale University law school] about being in Spain, so I would say [my exchange experience impacted me getting accepted].”
“I go to UCLA. I’m at the school of public health and I really feel one of things that helped me to get in and get a full scholarship was just the broad base that I have….All the times I went abroad, in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, at times I volunteered and hospitals and it helped me to write about that.”
“I definitely think it did impact getting my first job. The fact that I had been over to Europe really did help me get an international accounting position, working with an international firm. Just from what they said, I think it gave me an edge over people who perhaps did not have this experience. It also helped too because my boss was from England, and I spent a lot of time in England. So, I got along with him pretty well and I really understood where he was coming from…They felt more comfortable that I had traveled, but it wasn’t necessarily a deciding factor.”
Seven alumni with disabilities by having been abroad developed a confidence and “can do” approach to other aspects of their life (educational, social, professional)
“In my graduate studies, I was taking some classes and people asked, ‘How can you take that class? It’s really hard. You have to have sight in order to take it.’ I said, ‘Look, if I’m able to go to Australia and deal with things there, then I can accomplish this. I can do it.’ And so they were really amazed. In the end, I still maintained my 4.0.”
“Going to Brazil the first time helped me develop getting better self-esteem and become even more independent. In LA I live alone, I have my own apartment. I think living abroad, helped a lot with that. And being more comfortable in my [wheel] chair.”
“My reality was challenged, and I’m definitely a better person, more independent, more confident. I’ve matured a lot more. I achieved a lot more confidence about graduate school.”
“In myself, I could do anything if I put my mind into it. Subsequently, I signed up for five courses [upon returning home], which was rather insane. I managed to get a fairly respectful GPA.”
“If I get this job coming up, it will be a completely different environment. I’ve been there, done that in a way.”
“To go abroad, be away for so long without having my back-up system with me, it allowed me to realize that I can certainly do more things than I had thought….For career purposes, it gave me a tremendous boost. If I’m more confident to employers or whatever endeavor I may be doing, then it’s always a plus.”
“A lot of times I wouldn’t take a class because it was in a building that was inaccessible at my school. I just wouldn’t take it. I can’t take that class, it’s fine, I’ll take another one. But I think that being in Spain and seeing that I could accomplish things. Coming, home, if I really wanted to take that class, I was going to do anything I could to be able to do that.”
Five alumni’s families/friends saw the alumni as more independent upon return. Note: Others mentioned no change with their families, saying they always encouraged their independence.
“I surprised everyone, and it kind of gave me my independence back…For my family, they actually gained confidence back in me – that I can be self-sufficient. I think it made a reality of the future possible in my perspective and also their perspective for me. They became less pessimistic.”
“I had a hard time assimilating to the people who were used to helping me, my friends and family. I came back and I was very cold to them, I was so used to doing it myself.”
“They knew I was scared. They were scared. I had never been away from home that long. I had never been farther north than Tennessee…They were proud of me; they were more confident when it rose in me that I can go out in the real world and survive on my own.”
“My friends are really amazed at how much I’ve wanted to venture out. I don’t want to stay at home anymore; I just wanted to go out even though I’ve never been to a certain place. I went half way around the world, now I know I can go anywhere…People were more respectful towards me and they didn’t try to bring me down. It encouraged me more to reach my goals.”
“From the family, none of them speak Spanish. They thought it was a novel experience, but it’s totally out of their experience. None of my people attended college, so that’s not their world. They all marvel because I have partial vision and I went away. They don’t travel in America, let alone abroad.”
Four alumni with disabilities mentioned becoming confident in their ability to travel abroad and how their fears were dispelled about participating in an exchange.
“I was always scared before I had left. Even my study abroad counselor advised me not to do Spain because there are a lot of steps around…Before I had gone, I thought it was so out of reach. When I came back, and I got through it, I was successful and had a good time, it’s just a big boost. It makes me think ‘I can do this, I can do it again!’”
“For me the most important thing, I was really happy and proud that I managed to do this. I had actually been diagnosed in 1997 before I went over, and I didn’t even understand my illness then. Everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to make it, I couldn’t survive, I’d get sick. And I did it. And I had a wonderful time doing it, I might add. Just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean you can’t see the world. It may be hard and it may be a little more complicated, depending on your type of disability, but it doesn’t mean you have to give up your dream.”
“I had never been away from home aside from going to college two hours away…It was hard that first night. I woke up the next morning and said, ‘I’m going to get through this.’ And I absolutely loved it. After the first night, I was fine….I was really scared and concerned about how to maneuver around the airport…But once I got back from this trip and when through the motions a couple of times, I realized that I can do it and there really is nothing to be scared of anymore.”
“I knew it was going to be hard physically, but I was surprised about the emotional challenges of it. It was a total growing process. It was from the initial ‘What am I doing here, this is so hard’ to ‘if I may, I do not want to go home. I love it, this is my home.’…I did work for a program for people who were going to study abroad [when I returned home]. I was an orientation leader and I think that was a nice catharsis for me…that was a good thing for me to reflect on my accomplishments and knowing that I had mastered it.”
Four alumni felt the experience of being overseas increased their adaptability skills, although for some it was more challenging to adapt than at home because of language barriers, lack of support networks or less visibility of people with disabilities in the culture.
“Before I was scared to do anything and I was scared to speak up. When I was there, I had to do it. If I wanted things to go right, if I wanted to accomplish my goal, if I wanted to achieve it, I had to speak up. I had to do what I had to do… There are definitely things when you arrive that are not familiar to you. You just have to adapt. If you don’t, you won’t have fun.”
“It’s like you just get thrown to the wolves. I definitely had a total shield armor on and it was either sink or swim. You either ask them to make something accessible or you go home. And that’s what you had to do.”
“Where you’re experiencing a new culture and you have to adapt to that culture in order to survive. It’s a certain adventure about all that.”
“Overseas I was immersed into a completely different, strange, new environment and I adapted and I had a good time.”
Four alumni with disabilities used the challenges abroad (or at home relative to better services abroad) to recognize what they deserve as people with disabilities.
“It really changed my attitude. It’s a feeling of pride…I had certain expectations because I wasn’t going to accept the fact that there was no elevator in this building. That’s not OK anymore. I knew that I deserved it and so that’s why I got into law because I know that there’s certain things that I deserve to have and everyone does, and it really took being abroad and seeing the opposite [to realize this].”
“I was angry about [transportation access] when I came home [to Philadelphia]. Because when you’re abroad people say, ‘You’re American, America has everything….’ We’re a powerful country, which we supposedly are, but we’re not using those resources for people with disabilities because I would like to be able to catch a taxi in my wheelchair. I can’t catch most trains and buses. In Australia, I can catch most things like that. Not here.”
“I realized that I may run into some professors [in the U.S.] who are going to penalize me because I was too sick to go to a class that day, but I will always run into that and I can’t let it bother me. I realize that there is nothing wrong with me asking for help or accommodations, I deserve it. A key difference was that in Spain, the professors trusted you. There was no second-guessing. There was just acceptance. Here, the professors are more concerned about having equality among students, and they see you asking for accommodations as asking for a special favor that they choose to grant…Being in Spain I felt validated.”
“When I was in Australia, I changed in a way that I wouldn’t let people tell me I couldn’t go with them because I had a guide dog.….When I was in Australia, I remember I had difficulty with the Disabilities Office there and how they wouldn’t help me and get me a reader. I was very persistent because I was a straight-A student, I didn’t want to fail and I didn’t want to get a B. When I got back, the disability office knew what we needed as people with disabilities, so I have put that devotion and my persistence into other things.”
Four Alumni mentioned acquiring a broader world view.
“It gives you an entirely new perspective, like when they had that horrible train-bombing in Madrid, I knew much more of what the people would feel like. I’ve been on that train, I know the type of people who are on it…I understand the politics I think on a more fundamental level having been over there. Particularly with the war, I understand the various feelings in Europe…One of the biggest, important things that’s helped me understand the spin on the media here.”
“It broadened my perspective of the world. Before that, I wouldn’t have identified with Spain.”
“I’m very privileged to live here, but I have a lot of issues of how messed up our country can be sometimes. Like we’re the ‘center of the universe.’ But when you’re abroad, it’s not like that. But you get reminded of just how America is everywhere.”
“It definitely made e start thinking of my identity as an American and what that means. What does it mean that other countries perceive us as Americans, while we see ourselves as very different from each other? It was interesting…I’m a more humble person I think. There is an American arrogance. I appreciate the U.S., this is my home, but also I’m more critical.”
Four Alumni saw the experience as significant to their life perspectives.
“It was such a defining point in my life that no matter what the subject is, I always manage to say, ‘When I was in Spain…’”
“It was more than an educational experience for me. It was a life experience for me.”
“The international world has always been very attractive to me. Being in Brazil really just drove that home. It is a major component of the way how I wanted to live my life.”
“It helps you take outside of yourself. I think that’s particularly good for people who have disabilities because sometimes you need a fresh perspective on your life and your challenges.”
Three Alumni recognized access was better overseas.
“The taxis were more accessible in Spain. You can literally call them up at your whim and get a taxi with a foldout ramp. It wasn’t mechanical, it’s very simple…It made me feel like any other student. Late night, early in the morning, I could get where I wanted to go.” [Note: Another student found the taxis were not as accessible and that she had to learn to ask for help more often.]
“The lifestyle was much more calm, the focus was on enjoying life, it wasn’t on being a workaholic. I have a workaholic tendency, and Spain really slowed down my pace in a really good way. I was much healthier and happier there. I was much less sick, I fit in very well over there…The professors were so accommodating in giving me tests, I really clicked over in Spain. The education itself and studying was harder, but because my accommodations made it easier for me to take tests, it was actually easier.”
“They have pedestrian signals and we don’t have that in Chicago, so that was another thing I had to get used to... The people are much more helpful and very nice, and so I had to get used to the culture in Chicago again, people are not as open and not as helpful.” [Note: For another student from Seattle, she found the opposite, and her built up resiliency overseas made it hard for her to transition back to a place where they were more helpful].