The social production of disability through inclusion policies and programmes: the cases of three Chilean universities
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Date
2025
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Abstract
As educational systems have expanded, inclusion has become a global educational demand and a central component of contemporary educational policies. Higher education faces challenges in ensuring access, retention, and graduation for underrepresented groups, particularly students with disabilities. Consequently, it is essential to analyse how inclusion policies function in practice. This article explores how higher education policies and narratives influence the construction, redefinition, and questioning of disability and inclusion. We analysed the inclusion policies and narratives of three universities in Chile, along with insights from staff members of their inclusion programmes. We adopted a post-qualitative approach informed by Deleuzoguattarian assemblage theory and Michael Feely’s three-stage analytic process, using Suzanne Mettler’s policyscape framework to trace the relational dynamics. We observed that while ableism strongly influences policies, narratives, and subject formation in higher education, regulatory processes around disability also allow for subverting material agencies and fostering new relationships. This article promotes a deeper analysis of ableism within institutional diagnoses in higher education to enhance understanding of educational experiences beyond pedagogical dimensions. This implies incorporating social, emotional and other aspects into educational policies and programmes. We propose improvements to university inclusion and disability policies for international implementation and adaptation.
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Policy, Higher education, Disability inclusion