IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES THROUGH FOCUSED LEARNING

On many university campuses, students with disabilities form a noticeable group of the student population. Over the past years, enrollment of students with disabilities has markedly increased and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Although students with disabilities often prefer to major in non-technical areas, a considerable number of them choose to seek career opportunities in science, engineering and technology. The majority of prior studies on educating special engineering and STEM students have been oriented towards students with physical disabilities. A balanced approach is advocated in which individual aspects of the disability are given a special consideration and learning strategies and the environment are tailored in accordance with student's needs. Such adjustments are critical in accommodating students with a wide spectrum of disabilities. The aim of this paper is to consider various aspects of engineering education that may improve the competitiveness of engineering students with disabilities when they enter the professional workforce.