Science for Education Today, 2025, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 188–213
© Denisova O. A., Lekhanova O. L., Mikhailova A. V., Gudina T. V., 2025
UDC: 
376.1+378.17+331.1

Analysis of trends in the implementation of variable trajectories for supporting the professionalization of individuals with disabilities in higher education institutions

Denisova O. A. 1 (Cherepovets, Russian Federation), Lekhanova O. L. 1 (Cherepovets, Russian Federation), Mikhailova A. V. 1 (Cherepovets, Russian Federation), Gudina T. V. 1 (Cherepovets, Russian Federation)
1 Cherepovets State University
Full text (Open Access) — Downloaded 5
Abstract: 

Introduction. Transformation of higher education in an inclusive context determines the need to assess the results achieved by universities and analyze existing trends in the implementation of measures to support the professionalization of individuals with disabilities in the university.
The aim of this study is to examine the state of variable characteristics of an inclusive educational institution (inclusive policy, inclusive practice, inclusive culture) in universities and assessment of variable trajectories of organizational and methodological support for the professionalization of students with disabilities using the example of universities in 8 subjects of the Northwestern Federal District (universities of the network of the Resource Educational and Methodological Center of Cherepovets State University (REMC NWFD CSU).
Materials and Methods. Monitoring approaches of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation to the functioning of higher education institutions were used as the main tools for evaluating variable trajectories of organizational and methodological support for inclusive educational provisions for individuals with disabilities and special educational needs. In order to analyze the data, the following methods of mathematical statistics were used: descriptive statistics (mean, median, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum); factor analysis (PCA) and percentage indicators to express the proportion in the general population of the sample. The study was conducted at the resource educational and methodological center of the North-West Federal District for people with disabilities of Cherepovets State University (REMC NWFD CSU) in the period from 2022 to 2025 using data from 28 partner universities within the RMC NWFD CSU network.
Results. The authors analyzed data on the state of the inclusive context of university characteristics and described the existing variable levels of organizational and methodological support for students with disabilities. The article describes the heterogeneity of the implementation of inclusive policies, inclusive practices, and inclusive culture within the organizational and methodological support for students with disabilities.
The authors justify the need for a systematic approach and individualization of inclusive support at the stage of mastering professional competencies in the chosen field of study, taking into account the nosological features of disabled individuals.
Based on the data analysis on the implementation of variable trajectories of organizational and methodological support for the professionalization of individuals with disabilities in universities within the RMC NWFD ChSU network, a trend towards quantitative growth and qualitative transformation of the indicators of variable trajectories was determined: sustainability, focus on results, personalization, which indicates that universities have passed the stage of an energetic start and rational organization, and the consolidation of the most effective mechanisms.
The study concludes that in recent years, universities have undergone a systematic transformation towards the real support for the professional development of individuals with disabilities: inclusive policy and inclusive practice have gone through the stages of an energetic start and rational streamlining, securing the most effective mechanisms. However, indicators of inclusive culture demonstrate points of promising growth and prove the need to implement unified approaches and a comprehensive set of measures to support and guidance variable trajectories of professional development for individuals with disabilities in universities.
Conclusions. Variable trajectories of professional support for students with disabilities and special educational needs involve the implementation of a single integrated set of measures based on the development of scientifically grounded methodological support and a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of these components in the university (inclusive policy, inclusive practice, inclusive culture). This indicates the transition of higher education institutions to a new phase of development, where not only accessibility is important, but also the effect of the education received, which indicates a significant transformation of universities towards real support, rather than formal compliance with standards.

Keywords: 

Inclusive higher education; Students with disabilities; Inclusive policy; Inclusive practice; Inclusive culture; Support for the professionalization of disabled people; Components of inclusiveness.

For citation:
Denisova O. A., Lekhanova O. L., Mikhailova A. V., Gudina T. V. Analysis of trends in the implementation of variable trajectories for supporting the professionalization of individuals with disabilities in higher education institutions. Science for Education Today, 2025, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 188–213. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15293/2658-6762.2505.09
References: 
  1. Korobeynikov I. A., Babkina N. V. Students with special needs and disabilities: Predicting the psychosocial development in a modern educational environment. Clinical and Special Psychology, 2021, vol. 10 (2), pp. 239-252. (In Russian) URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=46343959  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2021100213
  2. Abkovich A. Ya. On the question of assessment of life competence sphere of students with movement disorders. Defectology, 2021, no. 3, pp. 37-48. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=46235290 
  3. Morozova E. V., Bonkalo T. I., Bonkalo S. V., Shmeleva S. V. Features of the manifestation of rehabilitative activity in patients with principal disabling pathologies. Problems of Social Hygiene, Health Care and History of Medicine, 2020, vol. 28 (52), pp. 1101-1107. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=44237828 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.32687/0869-866X-2020-28-s2-1101-1107
  4. Dube T., Ncube S. B., Mapuvire C. C., Ndlovu S., Ncube C., Mlotshwa S. Interventions to reduce the exclusion of children with disabilities from education: A Zimbabwean perspective from the field. Cogent Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 7 (1), pp. 19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.1913848  
  5. Lizunova G. Yu., Taskina I. A. Psychological and pedagogical support of students with disabilities and with special health needs in the university environment. Bulletin of the Altai State Pedagogical University, 2020, no. 2, pp. 53-58. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=42918648  DOI: https://doi.org/10.37386/2413-4481-2020-2-53-58
  6. Manungo R., Dohwe T. Listening to Students: The experiences of disabled students of learning in a selected university in Zimbabwe. Journal of Research Innovation and Implication in Education, 2023, vol. 7 (2), pp. 188-198. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59765/szar3410
  7. Denisova O. A., Lekhanova O. L., Kudaka M. A., Gudina T. V. Specifics of requests for psycho-educational and clinical-psychological support for individuals with disabilities entering higher educational institutions. Science for Education Today, 2024, (14), no. 6, pp. 202-229. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=78001297  DOI: https://doi.org/10.15293/2658-6762.2406.09
  8. Lekhanova O. L., Denisova O. A. Technology of designing an individual educational trajectory for students with disabilities. Psychological Science and Education, 2024, vol. 29 (4), рp. 31-43. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=69197313   DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2024290403
  9. Shkerina T. A., Myshkovskaya A. I. Individual educational route as a means of developing educational and professional motivation of pedagogical university students. Bulletin of the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafyev (Bulletin of KSPU), 2022, no. 3, pp. 29-39. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=49608949

10. Arzamastseva N. G., Konstantinova V. V. Individual educational route as a form of organization of pedagogical support for university students. Bulletin of the Mari State University, 2022, vol. 16 (3), pp. 305-311. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=49482139  DOI: https://doi.org/10.30914/2072-6783-2022-16-3-305-311

11. Sorokin N. Y., Lukovenko T. G. Readiness for training disabled students in academic staff of universities. Psychological Science and Education, 2018, vol. 23 (2), pp. 68-76. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=34884928  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2018230208

12. Kantor V. Z., Proekt Yu. L. Inclusive educational process at the university: Theoretical and experimental model of teachers' psychological readiness. Education and Science, 2021, vol. 23 (3), pp. 156-182. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=45272900  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17853/1994-5639-2021-3-156-182

13. Afanasiev D. V., Denisova O. A., Lekhanova O. L., Ponikarova V. N. Higher education teacher readiness for inclusive education. Psychological and Pedagogical Research, 2019, vol. 11 (3), pp. 128-142. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=40805422  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psyedu.2019110311

14. Denisova O. A., Lekhanova O. L., Gudina T. V. Inclusive culture as an indicator of the readiness of university specialists to support inclusive higher education. Psychological Science and Education, 2023, vol. 28 (6), pp. 82-92. (In Russian) URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=56445717  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2023280608

15. Mensah M. A. Attitudes constraining the inclusion of people with disabilities in a Ghanaian Public University: Student and staff perspective. European Scientific Journal, 2022, vol. 18 (22), pp. 85-103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2022.v18n22p85

16. Alhaznawi A. A., Alanazi A. S. Higher education faculty staff members’ attitudes toward students’ inclusion with high incidence disabilities in Saudi Arabia. World Journal of Education, 2021, vol. 11 (1), pp. 51-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v11n1p51

17. Alnahdi G. Are we ready for inclusion? Teachers’ perceived self-efficacy for inclusive education in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 2020, vol. 67 (2), pp. 182-193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2019.1634795

18. Garafutdinova N. Ya., Lukash A. V., Koresheva S. G. Mechanisms of interaction between personnel departments of organizations of various forms of ownership with educational institutions to form individual career paths for persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities. Economic and Humanitarian Studies of Regions, 2022, no. 2, pp. 35-43. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=48335719

19. Saitgalieva G. G. Organizational conditions for studying students with disabilities in pedagogical universities. Bulletin of Practical Psychology of Education, 2023, vol. 20 (1), pp. 129-145. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=52753154  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/bppe.2023200113

20. Borozinets   N., Shekhovtsova T. Accounting for special educational needs of students with disabilities at different levels of education system. Bulletin of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen, 2021, no. 199, рp. 17-26. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=44874490  DOI: https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2021-199-17-26

21. Osmuk  L. A., Degtyaryova  V. V., Zhdanova  I. V. Modelling social psychological support within the system of inclusive higher education: The experience of Novosibirsk state technical university. Psychological Science and Education, 2017, vol. 22 (1). pp. 140-149. (In Russian) URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=29159768  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2017220116

22. Shaw А. Inclusion of disabled Higher Education students: Why are we not there yet? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2021, vol. 28 (6), pp. 820-838. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1968514

23. Chauraya E., Maruzani N. Mainstreaming a disability inclusive university environment: Lessons gleaned from a Zimbabwe case. International Journal of Developing Country Studies, 2025, vol. 7 (1), pp. 53-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47941/ijdcs.2588

Date of the publication 31.10.2025