The False Dichotomy Between Merit and Diversity: Critical Disability Studies as a Way Forward

• In Event: Disability Studies in Education Frameworks for Rethinking Policy and Practice in Education, Higher Education, and Communication Supports

Abstract

This research addresses the false dichotomy between merit and diversity in higher education and how critical disability studies works to unsettle this conflict. Standardized measures of academic achievement have been used to establish uneven relationships between groups in higher education. As scholars and practitioners work to increase educational opportunity and research indicates that being part of a demographically representative college community can enhance leadership skills, critical thinking and cross-cultural communication, diversity continues to be challenged. The most common argument against diversity is the belief that academic excellence is posited in opposition to equality. This research investigates how participants from six divergent institutions addressed the social construction of competence within programs that addressed educational inequality.

Author

• Lauren Shallish, The College of New Jersey