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Перспективы Науки и Образования
Международный электронный научный журнал ISSN 2307-2334 (Онлайн)
Адрес выпуска: https://pnojournal.wordpress.com/2022-2/22-04/ Дата публикации: 31.08.2022 УДК 376 +37.0
Н. А. Лукьянова, Е. В. Фелл, А. А. Шавлохова
Роль барьеров окружающей среды в процессах карьерного конструирования студентами с ограниченными возможностями здоровья
Проблема и цель. Авторы указывают на следующее противоречие: с одной стороны, в России, как и во многих странах Европы созданы сервисы для поддержки карьерного конструирования студентами с ограниченными возможностями здоровья (далее - ОВЗ), с другой стороны поддержка карьеры в вузах слабо связана с доступностью окружающей среды, что определяет актуальность данного исследования. Цель: продемонстрировать значение барьеров окружающей среды для целей карьерного конструирования абитуриентами с ОВЗ, а также раскрыть их роль в момент, когда человек переходит на новый этап осознания жизненной траектории.
Материалы и методы исследования. Исследование фундируется на методологии проведения нарративных интервью, основанной на идеях Ф. Щютце. Методология нарративного интервью позволяет раскрыть базовые барьеры карьерного конструирования в динамике и показать важность инструментальных барьеров в момент профессионального выбора. Слабость метода состоит в субъективности, самоцензуре. Для анализа полученных данных использовался интерпретативный анализ. В ходе исследования было записано и проанализировано 4 нарратива студентов с ОВЗ (1 курс, 2-е мужчин и 2-е женщин), обучающихся в высших учебных заведениях двух регионов России. Совокупность опрошенных лиц считалась однородной с учетом того, что при использовании этого метода даже одно квалифицированно проведенное интервью может дать достаточно полную информацию.
Результаты исследования. Одним из основных барьеров, мешающих учащимся с ограниченными возможностями здоровья проектировать и конструировать свое личное будущее как нового этапа жизненной стратегии является физическая доступность пространства образовательных учреждений как агента первичной и вторичной социализации.
Заключение. На основании интерпретативного анализа данных нарративных интервью был сделан вывод о важности физической доступности вузов в момент профессионального выбора. Доказано, что в этот момент именно материальная среда влияет на понимание своего потенциала, а не ситуация инвалидности как таковая
Ключевые слова: карьерное конструирование, доступность образовательного пространства, студенты с ОВЗ, инклюзивное образование, барьеры, будущее, проецирование
Ссылка для цитирования:
Лукьянова Н. А., Фелл Е. В., Шавлохова А. А. Роль барьеров окружающей среды в процессах карьерного конструирования студентами с ограниченными возможностями здоровья // Перспективы науки и образования. 2022. № 4 (58). С. 425-439. сЬк 10.32744/р$е.2022.4.25
Perspectives of Science & Education
International Scientific Electronic Journal ISSN 2307-2334 (Online)
Available: https://pnojournal.wordpress.com/2022-2/22-04/ Accepted: 27 April 2022 Published: 31 August 2022
N. N. Lukianova, E. V. Fell, A. A. Shavlokhova
Environmental barriers as a factor affecting the ways in which students with disabilities construct their career design
Problem and Aim. Authors highlight the following contradiction: whilst on the one hand, in Russia, as in many European countries, disability services have been created to support career design for students with disabilities (SWD), on the other hand, career support in universities is loosely related to the accessibility of the environment. This inconsistency determines the relevance of this study. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the negative impact that environmental barriers have on SWD' career prospects, as well as to reveal the role of environmental barriers at the moment when a person becomes aware of a new stage of their life trajectory.
Materials and research methods. The study is based on the methodology of conducting narrative interviews based on the methodology of F. Schutze. The narrative interview methodology allows revealing the basic barriers of career design as they emerge and shows the importance of instrumental barriers at the time of choosing a future career. The weakness of the method consists of subjectivity and self-censorship. Interpretive analysis was used to analyze the obtained data. In the course of the study, 4 narratives of SWD (first-year students, 2 men and 2 women) studying in higher educational institutions in two regions of Russia were recorded and analyzed. The totality of the interviewed persons was considered homogeneous, taking into account the fact that when using this method, even one qualified interview can provide sufficiently complete information.
Research results. The research outcome demonstrates that one of the main barriers that prevent SWD from designing and constructing their future as a new stage in their life strategy is the limitations of physical accessibility of the space of educational institutions as an agent of primary and secondary socialization.
Conclusion. Based on an interpretive analysis of the data from narrative interviews, a conclusion was made about the importance of the physical accessibility of universities at the time of professional choice. It has been proven that at this moment it is the material environment that influences the understanding of one's potential, and not the situation of disability as such.
Keywords: career design, accessibility of universities, students with disabilities, SWD, inclusive education, barriers, future, projection
For Reference:
Lukianova, N. N., Fell, E. V., & Shavlokhova A. A. Environmental barriers as a factor affecting the ways in which students with disabilities construct their career design. Perspektivy nauki i obrazovania -Perspectives of Science and Education, 58 (4), 425-439. doi: 10.32744/pse.2022.4.25
_Introduction
ertiary institutions in Europe and the United States of America follow specific rules
that ensure the implementation of a particular inclusive system. For instance, in the
USA decision on considering a person as an SWD is made by the administration itself. Likewise, it is specified by the university in the documentation, which confirms the disability. This issue is strictly linked with the obligations of the university. For example, if SWD has a hearing disability university is obliged to provide him/her with a qualified translator or offer efficient tools for the perception of the material. The rules apply in the same way to SWD with dyslexia or visually impaired persons. Among particular rules for the education system requirements for physical space are not being determined, but they exist.
The practices of inclusion in European universities support the active involvement of SWD in higher education. The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 [31] and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) [32] fully endorse this practice. The Equality Act 2010 of the British legislative system regulates the process of inclusion in the country [33]. However, this piece of legislation deals more with society's perception of disability than with the role of the material environment. For example, with regard to the educational process, the university is obliged to provide the necessary equipment for SWD in advance. Some situations can be determined as discriminating if students, in accordance with the lecture schedule, are forced to move quickly from one building to another, but they cannot do this due to their condition. Thus, the practice of creating a friendly material environment is presented. In Italian universities (e.g., the University of Padua), SWD may ask to be accompanied to the campus for exams, administrative procedures and lectures, seminars and meetings. This service is mainly provided by volunteers. The university currently provides 26 dormitories for students with motor disabilities, which is a significant part of the accommodation environment. Each dormitory is equipped with a special bathroom, as well as a room for a nurse. Overall, these cases support the view that in Western countries, the tertiary system is mostly based on the idea of universal design. In contrast to traditional design, the universal design aims to provide an adoptive environment without special transformation to the needs of different consumers.
The Russian material environment is entirely different. Barrier-free access is provided in buildings of Russian universities, and there are rooms in dormitories equipped for SWD. However, through the presented research, two prestige universities were investigated (Tomsk Polytechnic University and Yaroslav-the-Wise State University), where campuses are constructed within a particular urban area with respect to historical heritage. Due to the fact that Tomsk (founded in 1604) and Velikiy Novgorod (founded in 859) are university cities, it creates additional difficulties in infrastructure accessibility.
Financially constrained, universities with only a small number of students with disabilities are sometimes limited to the construction of ramps. Obviously, in Russia, a significant number of tertiary institutions can partially solve the problem of providing a barrier-free environment. "The biggest problem for such people is still the physical inaccessibility of educational space due to the lack of necessary infrastructure" [30]. It is clear that the problem of accessibility of the physical space of the educational system for SWD remains extremely relevant. It is important to reveal the significance of this barrier in career design processes for SWD.
In this paper, the authors evaluate the accessibility of professional education for students with disabilities (SWD) by using a specific case study. The general idea that is being investigated here is how the material basis of inclusive education affects the processes of constructing the future career. The material environment of inclusive education is of particular importance for the process of constructing a personal career design since it reflects a new way of material-object mediation of one's own self in a digital society. In this respect, the authors maintain that the material environment of inclusion determines the image of the future. The material space creates conditions for constructing one's own future career, specifically when we consider the problem of the transition of a young person with a disability from one level of education, where he or she functioned in greenhouse conditions created using special arrangements, to the unsupported environment of the university. The study aimed at examining the transition problems among SWD, with a view to better understand their experiences. Most researchers observed difficulties among SWD at the tertiary level where they faced key problems of adjustment in higher education. G. Thomas Couser highlighted that there is a difference in identity politics concerning congenital and acquired disability [5]. More recent research of Ramp et al. has focused on the providing the accessibility for the SWD which medically assisted by a service dogs in science laboratories: "A priority should be to remove as many barriers to success as possible" [18, p. 3].
Oliver highlighted the high demand of implementing social model of disability which has a strong impact on perception of it [17]. The study of Phillips contributes a missing Soviet chapter to the new disability history where author interweaved discussions of Soviet-era state policy with descriptions of people's personal experiences [18]. Conducted research of Valeeva showed that rehabilitation process of "social, psychological, pedagogical and human" support haven't been developed in Russia so far [27, p. 2315].
Although no research was conducted in Russia on the matter of material environment that has importance for the process of constructing a personal future career of SWD. Devar et al. argued [6, p. 2] that "barriers are problematic, because postsecondary experiences are vital in shaping students' beliefs, identity and self-concept, and also because they impact on students' health and access to future opportunities". The accessible infrastructure of educational facilities is key to planning the future for SWD. In 2017 in Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia) was conducted a semi-structured interview with 34 experts working with SWD. Authors summarized 62% of respondents mentioned that institutional environment of higher education in Russia in low level [14, p. 47]. Consequently, the necessity for adaptation of SWD in the new environment is in high demand. The findings of overseas researches indicate that some students do not want to reveal their disability to tertiary administration due to the fear of stigma and lack of experience in self-advocacy [8]. McKenzie and Dalton noted that adaptation of persons with disabilities can be more efficient within implementation of universal design for learning that "allows for a common language between education stakeholders and gives new meaning to the interpretation of levels of support" [12, p. 2]. There are relatively few studies in the area of discrimination of disability in Russia. Findings of Stickley et al. revealed perceived discrimination of 9 countries of former Soviet Union, which is prevalent and important predictor of worsening of mental health [21, p. 163].
Most of the case studies in the former Soviet Union focused on the association between disability and loneliness [11; 25], psychological distress of persons with disabilities [26], eradicating of academic barriers in higher education [29] and discrimination [21; 24]. Some overseas researches discuss physical space and areas which need to be improved for
inclusion that are currently absent from existing policies (for example, accessing teaching and research laboratories by SWD who rely on service dogs) [18; 25].
In this regard, there is a strong need for research that focuses on personal stories of SWD, who could provide additional information on transition barriers from one level of education to another. Furthermore, in Russia there are few studies that contextualize the problem of projecting personal career design by SWD due to the problems in physical space or difficulties with transition.
It is obvious that a significant number of educational institutions only partially resolve the problem of providing a barrier-free environment. The biggest issue for people with disabilities is still the physical inaccessibility of educational institutions due to the lack of the necessary infrastructure.
In particular, many children with disabilities are guided towards a career related to humanitarian professions, and not in the field of STEM technologies. This is because perusing technical education requires additional special equipment [13]. But being constrained in their financial capabilities, universities, with only a few disabled students taking a course, are sometimes limited to the construction of a ramp, which allows the wheelchair user to get inside the room, but then his or her movement in the building remains problematic.
Thus, the materiality paradigm of inclusive education influences the design of the projecting of the future career. For disabled people, the material environment is a space of actual objectivity, which affects their idea of the future career: special kindergarten, followed by special school, secures a protective environment and a protected life. However, when such a student moves on to higher education, the physical environment has a direct negative effect on their future. Furthermore, physical barriers of tertiary instructions (elevators, ramps, toilet areas) and luck of support services give SWD unequal opportunities.
The representation of disability in education has three fundamental difficulties: the physical, social and psychological adaptation of young people with disabilities to professional education. The representation of disability places greater emphasis on the student, having to adapt and fit into the tertiary environment and only when problems with physical space will be solve, opportunities for changing social and psychological representation of SWD will be provided.
Several case studies highlighted that in countries with accessible environment main research interests forwarded on discrimination of persons with disabilities within social aspects. For example, in the research of Alekhina et al. described the analysis of the parent community as one of the subjects of assessing the state of the inclusive process at school which enhance process of inclusive education [1]. Data from Edwards et al. study confirmed the need for academic accommodations to better serve university students living with disability [8].
It is obvious that, inter alia, social and psychological barriers are significant and should be removed but within projecting personal career future for SWD transition barriers are primary.
Within a paradigm of social constructionism disability can be understand as an outcome of exact cultural circumstances [19] and its content depends on society's constructionism basis [7]. Hence, it is necessary to explore personal stories of SWD, who experience cultural and social dominance constantly. Within this particular study we strive to identify the key barrier for constructing personal future for SWD as people's experience can reveal challenging points [2; 5]. A study by Andrews involved master narrative stories to explore the relation to dominant cultural storylines to enhance the level of comprehension of persons' experiences [2].
_Materials and methods
The key to understanding the SWD experiences, while they are passing through different problems of accessibility of the environment, was given by the works of F. Schutze [23] and by complex methodology of grounded theory [4]. Investigating the problem, we conceptualize the idea of inductive approach of narrative interview, which was generated by F. Schutze while he study marginalized groups of people and their biography's meaning. Important ideas of topology of narrative interview also were taken from E.G. Mishler [16]. For revealing the key barriers of career design for SWD authors interviewed 4 participants (first-year students with disabilities, 2 men and 2 women) studying in higher educational institutions in two regions of Russia (Tomsk and Velikiy Novgorod). The weakness of the method consists of subjectivity and self-censorship. The totality of the interviewed persons was considered homogeneous, taking into account the fact that when using this method, even one qualified interview can provide sufficiently complete information.
Results
Specialist nursery and special education school: good education but sheltered life
The research of Schacter et al. strive for a better understanding of the self-regulatory psychology process of education and the design of the future career that connects to it [19; 20]. Schubert et al. provided meta-analysis, which yielded, that imagining the future has a moderate to strong impact on self-moderate [22]. Consequently, the current literature conceptualizes the effects of imagining the future of oneself only as a proxy for behavioural aspects [3]. We, on the other hand, claim that social situations of personal development discomfort (as it will be shown through interviews) matter for the education of SWD and for projecting career future. Specifically, this matters when a person switches from general to higher education.
In Russia, a person with a disability is, by definition, someone who has a long-term impediment caused by a chronic illness or pathological condition including e.g., birth defects of the cardiovascular system, osteoarticular apparatus, hearing organs, vision, central nervous system, vascular surgery [34]. Russia' Ministry of Education, in an attempt to align the Russian education system with that of developed countries, has been working on plans involving the creation of inclusive preschool and general education establishments for children with disabilities. The right to inclusive education for disabled children and young people is legally affirmed in the Education Act 2012, which states that «inclusive education constitutes ensuring equal access to education for all learners, taking into account the diversity of special educational needs and individual abilities» [35].
However, existing research on disability in Russia focuses on diverse problems associated with discrimination against people with disabilities. Limited access to further and higher education is recognised as one such problem [27], which in turn contributes to the problem of disabled persons' employability because positions that disabled people are qualified to fill tend to be «of low prestige».
In the USSR, disability was defined as the «loss of labor capacity» [18, p. 16], and disability policy in the Soviet Union was based on this «functional model» [18, p. 18], which involved opposing disabled people to people who supposedly contributed to society by being engaged in paid work [36].
The post-Soviet Russian government is facing a tough challenge in its apparent efforts to disengage from the Soviet legacy. Legislation and policies protecting people with disabilities have been evolving but the negative attitude towards people with disabilities is still entrenched in Russian society. The apparent lack of goodwill and consideration for disabled people in education and working environment was identified as a major obstacle to inclusion in Russian society [27].
The research of S.V. Alekhina et al. analyses the accessibility of education for children with impairments, where the participative method has been shown as an estimative concept for designing inclusive models [1]. In turn, we believe that illustrating a thematic review would show the problem of environmental barriers in the system of higher education for disabled students. The imitative pattern of inclusive practices in the Russian system of higher education does not allow students with impairments to project their futures. Projecting the future career for disabled students is one of the constructive parts of the psychology process, which should be met in the development of the education model.
One of successful stories was revealed in interviews with «Sasha»*, a young man with optic nerve atrophy who had shared his experiences as a survivor of a special school and a successful recipient of BA (Hon) in Information Management at one of Russia's top universities. Interviews with Sasha offer an insight into the circumstances of his life and education revealing obstacles that limited his education choices as well as positive factors that contributed to his personal success.
Sasha's story was not chosen randomly. The authors decided to focus on Sasha's case because it demonstrated the maximum of what a young person with a disability could achieve in Russia, whilst at the same time highlighting the limits of this success: Sasha achieved his goal to graduate but his health deteriorated as a result, as he worked under pressure to prepare for his exams. Also, despite achieving impressive results, he was not able to secure employment even after a year of graduating. This article thus uncovers the complexity of Sasha's situation, whereby his sense of well-being increased in some aspects but not in others. Moreover, as the authors locate Sasha's degree success story in a wider context, they aim to deliver a nuanced understanding of the challenges that young people with disabilities face in Russia.
At the time of the interview, Sasha was in his mid-twenties, diligent, hardworking and demonstrating exceptional memory. He also had optic nerve atrophy, which was the result of the birth trauma. Sasha had no problems with reading printed materials; however, he could not look at a computer screen for long periods of time and frequently had a migraine. Moreover, because of the loss of peripheral vision, he could only look at the computer screen from a particular angle. This in itself shows the importance of material environment on the process of education. Sasha lived with his parents and relied on their support. He was interested in sharing his educational experience with the international community and agreed to be interviewed. The following is an account of Sasha's educational path, which began with him attending a specialist nursery: «It was just like any other nursery, with a strict regime, where we arrived, ate, attended classes, with 'quiet time' after lunch from 1 pm to 3 pm when children were put to bed in their bed clothes. What made my nursery different was the presence of doctors and constant medical examinations».
Sasha started his preschool education after the collapse of the Soviet system and the nursery where Sasha spent his preschool years in a «combined type» nursery. It had separate
* This article is based on Sasha's and other students' testimonies (pseudonym used). The interviews were conducted in Russian and students' responses were translated into English.
groups for able-bodied and visually impaired children. The authors approached the nursery and found that in 2017 it catered for 280 children in two separate buildings and employed 27 nursery teachers aided by 13 nursery nurses, 2 music teachers, 3 language therapists, a special education teacher, educational psychologist, PE teacher, art teacher, choreography teacher, and a karate coach. The decision to apply for a place at the special school was not made lightly by Sasha's parents: «My parents were advised that the school on [street name] specialised in teaching children who had problems with their eyesight. It is a "special" school but its program of general education is the same as in other schools. We came here, and I was admitted to the school, but it took a long time because I had to be seen by many specialists and have many medical tests. All this took approximately one month. After that, they accepted me and I studied there».
Sasha enjoyed school and took part in sports competitions (with other disabled children): «We, the children, had the opportunity to take part in all sorts of sports completions, and I took part too. I took part in track and field athletics events. Because they told me that sports like weightlifting of wrestling were not suitable for me but sports like running is ok».
Although Sasha enjoyed some aspects of his school, he did not get on with all the children, and the serious conflict with a fellow student resulted in Sasha's condition being aggravated and him developing migraines in addition to the eyesight problems. Teachers' attempts to help made no difference and the conflict escalated to the point at which Sasha's health was damaged irreversibly.
As far as teaching per se, Sasha was satisfied with teachers' support, as they understood Sasha's needs: «I had the same form tutor from the fifth to the twelfth year and she had three university degrees, and one of them was in psychology. She understood that I had problems. She explained everything using accessible language».
Sasha's experience of being educated alongside able-bodied students began only after he finished school, at the university. How well did Sasha's school prepare him for higher education?
«I think that my school prepared me well when it comes to history. I have always been interested in history; it was my favourite subject since my first year at school. It was the only subject where I could speak a lot about the subject matter without having to read the textbook. I found it harder to learn other subjects: physics, chemistry, mathematics, geometry, well, my mind is not a mathematician's mind. I am good at humanities».
Seventeen-year-old Tatiana who was interviewed separately from Sasha studied in both an ordinary school and a specialist school. She was transferred to a specialist school after she had stayed in a hospital for a long period of time, missed many classes and was unable to catch up. The transition took place in grade 8 and Tatiana spent two remaining years in a specialist school. When asked to compare both schools, Tatiana, who has a deformity of the left hand and had undergone one operation with more to follow, explained: «It was harder to study in a regular school; you need to be more intelligent there. In the special education school, the education you get is weaker. In the regular school, it was hard. There was chemistry, physics, especially mathematics. In general, everything was good. I did well».
When asked, whether she was happy to move to the special education school, Tatiana responded emphatically: «Well, of course, I did not want to go there. I wanted to continue my normal course of study. But I left in December and stayed in the hospital until March. So, I could not catch up with the curriculum, and therefore I was sent to the special education school».
As Tatiana did not study subjects like Physics or English in the secondary school, her choices after leaving school were very limited. She could not consider pursuing a university degree, and at the time of the interview, she was training as a tailor.
Sasha was fortunate that his specialist school had prepared him for university academically. Another student was equally fortunate: 21-year-old Oleg, who was visually impaired because he has strabismus, was an undergraduate student studying power engineering and specialising in the chemical technology of materials. He shared his story with the interviewers: «Initially, inclusive education in the Altai Territory began with the fact that in the 20th century a boarding school for visually impaired people was established in the Altai Territory. It specialized in educating visually impaired and completely blind children. Later on, since there were enough children and adolescents in Barnaul alone, the mayor of the city in 1996 decided to form a school for visually impaired children. Accordingly, in 2003 I went to school, I started to study, and it did not cause any special problems for me, there were very good conditions for visually impaired pupils due to very experienced teachers».
Another interviewee was a 24-year-old graduate Marina, who was a wheelchair user. Her story was different from Sasha's and Oleg's. When asked to clarify whether she attended school with other children or was schooled at home, she replied: «No, of course, I did not attend school together with other children, and I've never heard that in Russian schools, children with disabilities could study with other children. I was schooled at home. I do not even know what to say about my education. Teachers came to my house, conducted classes, I did tests, that's all. I had no relations with my classmates, only with teachers».
The transition from school to university: entering the mainstream education system aged eighteen
Importantly, as will be shown in this section, while a special nursery and special school provided a protective environment for pupils with disabilities, in the higher education establishments no special arrangements were made at the material level, and this created discomfort for students.
Looking back at his experience as a pupil at a special school, Sasha's views on inclusive school education were as follows: «Whether or not to attend a special school or ordinary school - this should depend on pupils' health situation. If they can study alongside everyone else in an ordinary school, then let them study. If their health situation does not allow that, then they need to attend a special school».
Evidently, Sasha viewed inclusive education as a «sink or swim» situation, where a child or a young person with a disability was allowed to attend a mainstream class but was left there without specialist support. Komova identifies the following barriers specifically preventing inclusive school education of children with visual impairments [9]:
• No framework regulating the relationship between school staff, parents and students;
• Low level of teachers' motivation;
• Low level of teachers' competencies;
• Lack of experience in teaching children with visual impairments;
• Large class sizes;
• No specialist equipment or teaching aids.
After finishing school, Sasha's plans were clear - he was going to apply for a university place. Other options were not even considered: «This idea [to apply for an undergraduate course] did not come to me first; it had come to my parents, especially my Mum: "You finished school; you need to obtain a university degree because without a university degree
you can't move on in life". I was told there and then: "You will go to university". I did not say "Yes, great!" straight away because I understood that there was going to be a different environment. When I was at school, I often came to the university where my Mum worked; half of the university staff knew me personally. I understood and Mum understood too that I would not find studying easy. But then my dream was to graduate».
When choosing a subject for his degree course, Sasha had to take into account the fact that he was not strong at Maths: «For me, the most important was that the subject matter should not involve mathematics. I knew I could cope with everything else. I chose management». But Sasha had to went to the university in the city where he lived due to the fact of his mother's will.
Life as a student: no institutional support
Being an undergraduate student was not easy for Sasha due to lack of special technical arrangements: «There were critical moments when I wanted to give up. There were times when I wanted to quit my studies because there were lecturers who were prepared to help and explain everything but there were also those who gave me material to work through, and I was expected to do it without the support I needed. Then I felt fed up and wanted to quit».
Sasha's specific problems were as follows: «I can read, and I do read a lot, but I must not strain my eyes. Besides, not everything was available in printed form. Quite often, I had to look for information online. Looking at the screen strains my eyes and causes headaches».
Despite declaring his disability officially, Sasha received no institutional support, and there were no special aids on offer: «My only aid was my glasses during all stages of my study».
However, during the interview, Sasha revealed that he did not wear his glasses in public because he did not trust the people around him. Consequently, he did not wear his glasses when he was commuting to the university: «I take precautions because in our city, and not only in our city, there are plenty of those who can just [land a blow]». But the object environment of university's campus wasn't prepared for impaired students.
When Sasha talked about his own abilities and achievements, he was confident and assertive: «My main achievement is the dissertation, without question. Graduating was my main goal». Oleg had further comments regarding the limitation of choice for visually impaired students: «It should be highlighted that all specialist schools orient their students towards humanities. They are preparing the children apriori for the fact that they will not be able to work in the technical sphere and pursue STEM careers».
It was good to hear that unlike Sasha, Oleg had made new friends at the university: «Initially, I thought that adapting to university life would be difficult because in our school there were only 70 people and, in each class, there were from 4 to 8 people. However, all my fears in this regard were in vain. I found a common language with everyone». That said, the communication with able-bodied peers was not going smoothly all the time for Oleg: «In a specialist school, everyone was the same, had the same problems and there were no differences between us. Everyone understood each other's problems with being able to see, and therefore we tried to help each other. At the university, there are some classmates who try to bully. That is, able-bodied people are not used to the fact that a person with a disability can study alongside them».
As for home-schooled Marina, she did not have much to say about her university experience: she managed to complete work for her studies but did not communicate with other students.
Importantly, the cases described above represent a minority. Many SWD do not have enough basic knowledge to study at the university, so their career and their dreams are limited to working-class occupations. Also, perceived limitations are associated not only with fears in their own knowledge, but also with the fact that the problem of inaccessibility of infrastructure is closely related to the issues of social adaptation in the educational space.
Discussion of the results
We can see that there is a causal link between the physical objective environment and inclusivity, where education in a barrier-free accessible environment would have a positive effect on the construction of the images of the future. Narrative interview with Sasha revealed that on a subjective level, obtaining a degree certificate in itself improved his life satisfaction as a person with a disability. In this context, Sasha's degree certificate and the fact of his participation in the system of mainstream education could be considered as values in themselves, rather than means to achieve something else, such as a career, societal recognition and income. At the time of the interview, it was clear that his degree had given him neither career nor income, and his employment prospects were vague. Moreover, Sasha obviously suffered from various forms of discrimination and relied heavily on the support of others, which reinforced his dependence on the goodwill of other people. Additionally, his health suffered, which contributed to him being dissatisfied with the process of higher education acquisition and hindered further his employment prospects. However, at no point, he expresses any regret in regard to pursuing his undergraduate degree, as its symbolic meaning of personal achievement and the knowledge that he acquired overrode all disadvantages associated with his university experience and the disappointment at not being able to secure employment.
However, it is important to identify specific barriers that stand in the way of genuine inclusion. Looking beyond hard data and statistics and learning about real people is a positive step towards ensuring that positive change actually takes place and Russian universities' corporate culture becomes inclusive and 'welcoming' on multiple levels for all students including those who have a disability [10].
The possibility of studying in higher education institutions depends largely on the geographic and social living conditions. Moscow graduates with disabilities benefit from more opportunities for continuing education than graduates with disabilities from small towns of Russia do. The biggest problem for people with disabilities is the physical inaccessibility of educational institutions and the lack of necessary infrastructure. Accordingly, there are no appropriate ramps, handrails; the buildings have narrow doorways, which a wheelchair user could not use. This situation exists alongside the fact that there are quotas for training students with disabilities and special programs for admission to higher education.
The architectural environment in many universities continues to be inaccessible, and there is a lack of special equipment for disabled students. Obtaining necessary equipment requires large financial investments, which many universities cannot afford. Many professionals who work with disabled people do not believe that disabled people can achieve their goal to study at university [15]. Negative societal attitudes towards disabled people is a significant factor preventing them from successfully integrating into the higher education system [17].
There is no established system to support persons with special needs studying in universities; there is no unified methodology and technology implementation to support
inclusive education. In fact, it is left to individual universities to determine the tools and find finance in order to implement inclusion in the educational process.
With respect to the main research question, it was found that motivation among SWD is high. However, the understanding of their capabilities within tertiary institutions and future carrier is fundamental for making life plans. A considerable amount of literature has been published on the lack of a physical adaptive environment for SWD. Still, the main difficulties for SWD are the absence of the necessary infrastructure, such as ramps, handrails, and narrow doorways [29]. It must be noted that the Russian tertiary system has never been completely inclusive. The architectural environment remains inaccessible in a large number of universities. Providing physical adoptive spaces requires considerable investments from the university administration. Social and psychological barriers also have a pivotal role in career design. Prior studies have noted the importance of adaptation of science community buildings for accessibility and equity [20]. However, very little was found in the literature on the question of transition barriers between one level of education and another and on the importance of projecting the personal future of SWD. The most interesting finding was that the approach developed by F. Schutze, used in this investigation, helped to analyze collected narratives of SWD from the perspective of the physical space of inclusive education, which is the key figure in constructing a personal future. These findings within a coherent methodological approach of the narrative interview are correlated with the works of Devar et al. [6] and Mihalchi [15].
The general problem of tertiary institutions, dormitories and dining rooms of Russian education (based on the results of narratives of SWD) is a lack of tactile communication interpreters, special elevators, ramps and special toilet rooms. Training rooms and swimming pools also are not adapted to the needs of SWD. Furthermore, urban transport infrastructure is inextricably linked with projecting a personal future (not only within career construction) due to the lack of easy access.
In this case, we share the position of Professor N. Meshcheryakova and E. Rogotneva who also highlighted the infrastructure issues for SWD. They focused on the fact that the "physical space of Russian universities is not adapted for the SWD" and due to this "other socialization problems" were sidelined [15].
In contrast to earlier findings, however, no studies focused on the problem of the dependence on the material environment and personal career design as a part of future projection by SWD. The most discussed aspects of disability issues in tertiary institutions were related to the adjustment of the educational system itself.
Solving this issue is a significant challenge for Russian tertiary institutions and politics of inclusion.
Conclusion
The concept of «stigma» (translated from Greek - «a sign») literally means a spot, mark, stigma, which in ancient times were burned out or carved on the human body to indicate something unusual, unnatural, «shameful» in his personality, psychological or social status and meant literally: «Avoid this person!». Currently, stigma means a sign indicating a person's inferiority, his «otherness», depravity, etc. Thus, B. Schaefer and B. Schloder define stigma as «any flaw or defect, or a sign of such, which has a serious negative impact on the social acceptance of the affected individual» [17, p. 125].
Thus, stigma is an attribute that discredits a person in the eyes of others, endows him or her with the status of an inferior person, and causes him or her to be rejected. It becomes obvious that stigmatization causes prejudice, discrimination, rejection of the bearer of stigma, deprives the possibility of communication and interaction with him or her on an equal footing. Moreover, stigma «blocks» information that indicates the possibility of full-fledged social contact with the bearer of stigma. The special objective environment during the period of education in kindergarten and secondary school acts as one of the mechanisms of the appearance of stigma in children and adolescents. Due to various circumstances, such objectivity is insufficient in universities; it is present in a small part of universities, some of which are specialized.
Thus, stigma is a «trigger» that starts the process of forming prejudice, stereotypes and, in the end, leads to discrimination. The specificity of the formation of stigma through the mechanisms of the objective world is manifested in the paradigm of the objectivity of inclusive education.
The following contradiction is revealed: namely, at the initial stage of everyday life and in the processes of obtaining secondary education, it prevails (special schools, special buses, special teachers, special textbooks, etc.), and when moving to the higher education system or everyday life, such objectivity becomes something exceptional (the absence of a barrier-free environment, fragmented inclusive objectivity in universities). For example, there may be ramps in the building, but narrow passages and thresholds in public places or the absence of an elevator, etc. And in this case, we are faced with increased stigmatization through the objectivity of inclusion that influences human expectations and the design of the career design. Namely:
• forms a «self-fulfilling prophecy», i.e. a person sees the absence of the objectivity of an inclusive space, which strengthens his or her belief in dissimilarity from others, and the inability to solve everyday problems creates a «reality that confirms this belief»;
• reduces the social status of a person and his or her self-esteem;
• accompanied by a feeling of sadness, the hopelessness of one's existence, generates awareness of inferiority and shame (we assume that "depression" statement should be estimated empirically due to the clinical sense of it);
• underlies social alienation (the inability to fully enter a new society), which greatly reduces the likelihood of success in various spheres of life;
• reduces the feeling of control over the outside world («learned helplessness»), contributes to the formation of a loss of faith in a just world. This is an option when people with disabilities consciously choose only those paths that seem more open to them (for example, specialized universities);
• creates a feeling of discomfort from one's insecurity.
Thereby, there are more than physical environment and transition barriers for SWD to be improved within the context of educational system. It was identified that while moving from one level of education to another obviously SWD start to formalize their personal future and physical space is one of the key issues.
_Funding
The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-28-00757, https://rscf.ru/project/22-28-00757
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Информация о авторах Лукьянова Наталия Александровна
(Российская Федерация, г. Великий Новгород) Доцент, доктор философских наук, профессор кафедры философии, культурологии и социологии Новгородский государственный университет имени Ярослава Мудрого E-mail: Natalialukianova04@gmail.com ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1186-0404 Scopus Author ID: 14043682600 ResearcherlD: N-5955-2015
Фелл Елена Владимировна
(Российская Федерация, г. Томск) PhD, доцент отделения социально-гуманитарных наук
Томский политехнический университет E-mail: elena.fell@ntlworld.com ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7606-7696 Scopus Author ID: 56545406000 ResearcherID: N-7169-2015
Шавлохова Анна Александровна
(Российская Федерация, г. Великий Новгород) Кандидат философских наук, ведущий научный сотрудник кафедры философии, культурологии и социологии
Новгородский государственный университет имени Ярослава Мудрого E-mail: ollyvost@tpu.ru ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6439-5828 ResearcherID: AAA-7766-2022
Information about the authors Natalia N. Lukianova
(Russia, Veliky Novgorod) Associate Professor, Dr. Sci. (Philosophy), Professor of Department of Philosophy, Culturology and Sociology Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University E-mail: Natalialukianova04@gmail.com ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1186-0404 Scopus Author ID: 14043682600 ResearcherID: N-5955-2015
Elena V. Fell
(Russia, Tomsk) PhD, Associate Professor of Division for Social Sciences and Humanities Tomsk Polytechnic University E-mail: elena.fell@ntlworld.com ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7606-7696 Scopus Author ID: 56545406000 ResearcherID: N-7169-2015
Anna A. Shavlokhova
(Russia, Veliky Novgorod) Cand. Sci. (Philosophy), Leading Research Associate of Department of Philosophy, Culturology and Sociology Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University E-mail: ollyvost@tpu.ru ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6439-5828 ResearcherID: AAA-7766-2022
