Exploration of Concerns Affecting the Mental Well-being of Disabled Students Who Withdrew from Post-Secondary Education in Ontario

Abstract

Disabled students are enrolling in post-secondary education in Canada at higher rates than in the last decade. Despite this improvement in enrollment, only a smaller percentage of them graduated. Systematic and structural barriers affect the health and participation of disabled students in academic activities. Therefore, understanding the experiences of disabled students and the factors that led them to withdraw from post-secondary education is necessary. Informed by critical disability studies and academic ableism, I sought to understand the factors that affect the mental well-being of disabled students and how they lead them to withdraw from post-secondary education in Ontario. This research utilized an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology to investigate their life experiences. Five (n = 5) disabled students who withdrew from post-secondary education were recruited for online interviews via social media. Five descriptive themes were developed from the data, capturing the experiences of the participants: (1) positive beginnings undermined by insurmountable endings, (2) disabled students' encounters with academic ableism, (3) retrogressive emotional experience of disabled students, (4) withdrawal as a slow unravelling of hope and belonging, and (5) envisioning change. Identifying that some began with good mental well-being, while others described challenges as they progress in their studies. This study described impending issues that impact well-being and identified potential areas for intervention in post-secondary education to avert the withdrawal of disabled students. Likewise, areas where ableism still exists in post-secondary institutions were identified. The results also provide recommendations for society, academic institutions, and policymakers to support disabled students in successfully navigating post-secondary education.