A Study of Educators’ Experiences Implementing Academic Accommodations for Students with Invisible Disabilities in Higher Education: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology

Abstract

As the rate of students entering higher education diagnosed with invisible disabilities, conditions that are not readily apparent from the outside yet present challenges to a person’s daily activities, continues to rise, little is understood about educators’ experiences with this subpopulation of students. Through engaging a process of qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology, this study investigated the lived experiences of higher education faculty members in implementing academic accommodations in their work with students with invisible disabilities. To guide this inquiry, Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy was selected to support an understanding of how these experiences intersected with faculty members' self-efficacy as teachers.

The use of semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and journaling aided in implementing the framework of a hermeneutic phenomenology in support of a process of evolving questions and continuous discussions to construct a vibrant picture of instructors’ experiences with invisible disabilities that other modes of research leave hidden beneath the surface.

This research unveiled the experiences of five faculty members that were organized under two broad categories. The first overarching theme is the lack of a disability culture. This theme emerged through the experiences and ongoing conversations offered by the participants. The remaining themes emerged through direct considerations of the theoretical framework of Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and are organized by the four sources of self-efficacy.