Using UDL to redesign education in response to diversity

Abstract

In a competitive higher education landscape and as a result of the changing social and demographic context, institutions can no longer afford to leave diversity on the margins of policy and practice. Diversity is currently explicitly addressed in almost all mission and vision statements of higher education institutions in Europe. However, the student population of these institutions still does not reflect the diversity present in society as a whole. Although diversity in higher education is increasing, the access for many social groups is still too narrow and the dropout rate during the course of study is still too high. In Belgian higher education institutions the proportion of 18-20 year-olds has increased spectacularly over the past fifteen years (Agentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten, 2021; Cincinnato et al., 2020; Groenez, 2004). However, this does not automatically imply that all individuals or all social groups have equal opportunities to participate in higher education. On the contrary, research has shown that study performance and study progress of students are highly determined by socioeconomic background (Hemelsoet, 2021). In this contribution, we call upon policymakers, teachers, academic professionals, admissions and career officers, disability and access officers, as well as students, in short, all parties involved in the design and organization of higher education, to redesign this education in response to diversity. We argue that Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides a good starting point. A focus on diversity While diversity in the public debate is often narrowed down to issues of ethnicity, migration and integration, in this contribution we explicitly use a broad definition of diversity. Diversity then refers to differences in, among others, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnic and cultural background, physical and mental abilities, socioeconomic background, language, level of education, worldview, migration history, nationality and residence situation.