How do educational cultures, discourses and practices shape the retention of disabled students in higher education in Scotland? A feminist poststructuralist exploration

Disabled students in Higher Education (HE) face lower retention rates than their non-disabled peers (Lee et al.et al., 2015; Koch et al.et al., 2018). These lower rates stem from the many complex and dynamic factors impacting their experiences, making disabled students’ retention a difficult challenge to address (Fichten et al.et al., 2014; Thompson-Ebanks, 2014; Kutscher and Tuckwiller, 2019). While this has traditionally been an under-researched topic, the factors influencing disabled students’ risk of withdrawal are gaining attention due to international efforts to widen participation across HE. Yet, existing literature lacks detailed accounts of disabled students’ experiences regarding their persistence and retention. Moreover, this evidence tends to focus primarily on policies and practices without critically exploring the structures that create and reproduce them. To address these gaps, the present research study explored how cultures, discourses and practices across HE in Scotland help fulfil or foreclose disabled students’ aspirations and how this shapes their retention. The study employed a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews as the data generation tool. As a result, 29 participants collaborated in this investigation. The generated data was analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis while adhering to a Feminist Poststructuralist framework.The data analysis revealed two main areas influencing the retention and persistence of disabled students who participated in this study: Disability Support and Pedagogy. Furthermore, the study uncovered how the current HE system in Scotland is not designed for disabled people, with support provision and pedagogical practices often marginalising disabled students. These practices are maintained by existing discourses that perpetuate an idealised notion of disabled students that excludes those who cannot adhere to the standards underpinning that notion. The data also illustrate that this notion is sustained by the sector’s neoliberal principles of normalcy and hyper-productivity. In contrast, participants advocate for care-based approaches that value disabled students’ complex experiences as a strategy to challenge marginalising discourses and practices, calling for more inclusive HE cultures in which disabled students can thrive. The study discusses the multiple possibilities related to the implementation of these approaches and offers a comprehensive list of recommendations for research, policy and practice that could promote transformation across the sector.Finally, this research also emphasises the need for a broader understanding of student retention, particularly when exploring the experiences of disabled students. According to the present evidence, this conceptualisation should consider disabled students’complex experiences, the role of aspirations in their progression and persistence and how educational cultures, discourses and practices shape their retention.