Scope
Pedagogy
Status
In progress
Subject
Adopting an inclusive university culture requires the ability to interpret individual needs from a social and community perspective, aimed at embracing and valuing student differences for the collective well-being. In this sense, it is strategic to propose university policies and practices that engage the entire student population, including students who encounter difficulties due to socioeconomic and cultural reasons and/or disabilities and Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD).
More specifically, according to the 2022 report by the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research System (ANVUR), the student population with disabilities and learning disabilities (LD) represents 2,13% of all students enrolled in Italian universities. As highlighted in the document, the historical data series from the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) for the academic years from 1999/2000 to 2019/2020 shows a fourfold increase in the number of these students. Overall, the presence of female students is greater and steadily increasing in all degree programs, with the sole exception of doctoral programs, where the male component predominates.
Furthermore, an emerging fact of considerable interest is that, despite the absence of a legal obligation on the part of university institutions to take care of students with special needs who are socioeconomically, culturally, and linguistically disadvantaged, 46,6% of the universities that participated in the ANVUR research (Borgonovi et al., 2022) provide support to this type of student upon request.
In this context, it is useful to underline the importance of the Guidelines of the National Conference of University Delegates for Disability (CNUDD, 2014, 2025), which outlined methods and types of services to support the inclusion of students with disabilities and/or DSA.
The current state of affairs regarding students with disabilities and learning disabilities (LD) raises new challenges for universities, aimed at improving services within an international regulatory framework strongly rooted in the principles of inclusion. In particular, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), through Articles 30 "Participation in Cultural Life, Recreation, Leisure and Sport" and 24 "Education," represents the compass that guides academic commitment to effective inclusion, guaranteeing access to culture and to university and continuing education as an inalienable right of persons with disabilities.
The principles of equality and equity promoted by the Convention were relaunched, in terms of Sustainable Development Goals, by the United Nations 2030 Agenda (UN, 2015), in particular with Goal 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
With reference to the content of Goal 4, the latest Censis Report 2023/2024 highlights a worrying statistic regarding the level of university dropout, affecting students regardless of gender, which universities should address. This situation must be interpreted within a context of persistent structural inequalities in Italian universities, with negative repercussions on university access opportunities for the most socioeconomically disadvantaged student populations (Censis, 2023).
An inclusive university, committed to ensuring the well-being of all, is also called upon to address gender issues as a fundamental policy for protecting the rights of equity and equal opportunities. According to MUR data (2024), the number of female students enrolled exceeds that of male students and has been steadily increasing since the 2021/2022 academic year.
Furthermore, the international dimension of universities, increasingly valued in evaluation processes, requires the adoption of an intercultural perspective, capable of welcoming foreign students and promoting interuniversity exchanges across the globe. The Censis Report (2023) itself shows a positive increase in the number of foreign students enrolled in our university system (+3,5% compared to the previous academic year), which inevitably invites reflection on its various dimensions.
In recent years, universities have unfortunately repeatedly faced worrying levels of psychological distress among their student population, sometimes resulting in extreme behaviors such as suicide. The incidence of mental health problems among university students has increased exponentially over the past decade (Porru et al., 2022). Recent meta-analyses have estimated that 33,8% of university students worldwide suffer from anxiety and 27,2% experience depressive symptoms (Quek et al., 2019).
Against this backdrop, a rhetoric is spreading that emphasizes models of unattainable performance and extreme competition, which ignore failure as a limited existential experience, often linked to fragilities that must be properly understood and contextualized.
The set of data and considerations presented inevitably calls for in-depth reflection and, at the same time, a solid commitment to promoting well-being, which cannot be conceived as just one of the many challenges on the academic agenda, but must instead be assumed as a socio-pedagogical priority to be addressed with adequate, structural and inclusive interventions (WHO, 2001; CUNDD, 2025).
Well-being is fostered through inclusive processes based on participatory experiences that help recognize the uniqueness of each student, the value of their thinking, and the ability to consider their rights alongside their needs and responsibilities. In particular, the opportunity for students with learning disabilities and disabilities to participate in designing their own educational programs and services is an example of how the University can embody the motto of disability organizations—"nothing about us without us"—so that it doesn't remain a mere slogan faded by the passage of time.
The full participation of students with disabilities in research and design processes that affect them follows an emancipatory methodological approach, which is part of the broader set of theories and methodologies of participatory action research (Boog, 2003; Mortari, 2009). This is an investigative model proposed by several scholars (Oliver, 1992; Barton, 2005) as one of the potentially most inclusive research paradigms for producing new knowledge while promoting the emancipation of the most marginalized groups—such as people with disabilities—through their full participation in the study of issues relevant to their lives (Taddei, 2018).
In this direction, the Student Voice movement pursues emancipatory trajectories through various advocacy actions that defend the right to participation of all students. Indeed, despite equal access opportunities and legislative protections aimed at guaranteeing the right to higher education for students with disabilities, numerous social and physical barriers (Agarwal et al., 2015; Bellacicco, 2018) still exist that prevent their full participation in academic life. This translates into a qualitative decline in educational success, with repercussions on the acquisition of skills, attitudes, and abilities that can be applied in future life contexts, not least the world of work (Giaconi, 2015).
Universities are called upon to rethink their institutional mission by integrating accessibility, quality, and equity into the evaluation of their teaching, assessment, and organizational practices, to achieve inclusive education and training for all. This is the context for several studies aimed at identifying the factors that facilitate or hinder learning and a sense of belonging in the academic context (de Anna, 2016); among these, a line of studies is part of the Students' Voice Movement (Beardon, 2009; Grion, 2017; Bellacicco, 2018).
Born in the 90s at an international level, this movement aims to enhance the active and participatory role of students in understanding and critically analyzing their educational contexts (Grion, Cook-Sather, 2013; Cook-Sather, 2014), through the creation of spaces in which students' "voices" are heard, recognized and legitimized as transformative elements of the educational context.
From this perspective, a research tradition has developed since the 90s that, using various qualitative methods, has given space to the voices of students with disabilities (Hurst, 1996; Moriña Díez et al., 2015; Kendall, 2016; Bellacicco, 2018). However, a review of the literature (Beardon, 2009; Pavone & Bellacicco, 2016; Seale, 2017) highlights the need to further engage with students with disabilities within higher education through field studies that highlight their contribution to the development of university policies and services dedicated to them.
The emerging insights lead to a reflection on inclusion and well-being in university settings, along the lines of Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018; Alba Pastor, 2019). Creating positive learning environments and experiences for the entire student population requires a paradigm shift that intertwines the pedagogical pillars of inclusive education with curricular design.
Universal Design is at the heart of this paradigm to the extent that educational foundations, methodological innovations, resources, and assessments are based on an inclusive approach, through which the right to learn, socialize, participate, and progress in common spaces of all and for all is realized (Forteza Forteza et al., 2022).
Learning outcomes
1. Conduct a European survey on the topic of university inclusion, focusing on opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses starting from a review of the literature and legislation.
2. Explore the topic in greater depth through direct participation in national and international conferences.
3. Analyze the evolution of the University of the Republic of San Marino's inclusive strategies through cultural, regulatory, and service dimensions.
4. Communicate the results of the study to the San Marino community.
Exclusive
1. Study of national and international literature and legislation, with particular reference to Europe.
2. Participation in the following national and international conferences:
Sipes Conference, Verona, November 2025
CIUD International Conference, Granada, November 2025
Unimc Inclusion Week, March 2026
International SIPES Conference, University of Malta, April 2026
3. Analyze the University of San Marino's inclusive strategies through documentary analysis and interviews with key stakeholders.
4. Drafting the publication and organizing public communication events.
References
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Status of works
The project, included in the 2025-2026 annual research plan, approved by the Department Council in session no. 7/2025 of December 5, 2025, is currently in the data collection phase.