The ESMHE project is a result of an initiative by the Nordic Council of Ministries (NCM), and Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Education and Research (ÄK-U). The project is a part of the “Action Plan for Nordic Co-operation on Disability 2015 – 2017” Focus area 3, Free movement, Activity 3.3: Study on the educational mobility of people with disabilities between the Nordic countries.
The project was a result of a request for project proposals by Nordic Council of Ministries the Nordic Welfare Centre 2015, with NTNU and the University of Jyväskylä as the only applicant. The partnership was established out from a long term relationship between the partners, and the NNDC network4 established in 2008. A project application was handed in to Nordic Welfare Centre by May 1st 2015, and accepted with minor amendments.
The project application was distributed to all project partners, and the project formally started on October 1st 2015.
Target groups
The project addresses challenges and best practice at different levels in the public sector. Several difficulties occur due to the sector responsibility, and the lack of collaboration between sectors important for a successful study in another Nordic country. Our suggestions are inter-disciplinary and inter-sectorial, and suggests actions at both a practical and political level. This includes:
- Actions at a Nordic political and administrative level (NMC)
- Actions at a national level (like regulations in the university sector or the municipalities)
- Actions at a local level (like enhancing best practice inside a university)
Project application and activity plan
The project application was worked out by University of Jyväskylä and NTNU/ Universell, and handed in in cooperation and understanding with the NNDC partnership. The project application was funded on 6 key investigations and actions:
- Review on previous research and available knowledge about mobility and disability in Higher Education.
- An overview of policy and praxis for including student with disabilities in Higher Education in the Nordic countries, including revealing knowledge of support systems from other sectors. Investigation of international mobility personnel in Nordic higher education institutions.)
- Survey and interviews of students with disabilities in higher education institutions in the Nordic countries and international mobility personnel in Nordic higher education institutions
- Analysis of key issues across the findings from different data sets (student survey and interviews, country reports).
- Dialogue on the key findings with key stakeholders - including NNDC - to create a common understanding concerning recommendations and means to ensure equal and successful mobility within the Nordic countries and autonomous areas
- Discussions in the project expert group, the NNDC partnership. Two project meetings were planned before concluding on project outcomes.
Project partners
The project partners were recruited through the NNDC network (Nordic Network of Disability Coordinators). The NNDC network was created in 2008 by 10 Nordic universities and university colleges, initially financed by the Nordic Welfare Centre. The NNDC network arranged a conference about disability in Higher Education in 2009, and has regularly cooperated in smaller projects the following years. The main purpose has been exchange of knowledge and best practice about students with disabilities.
After the call for project applications, the University of Jyväskylä and Universell (NTNU) formed a partnership for a joint application, involving the NNDC partners as national experts of disability in Higher Education in the Nordic countries in the project. Five Nordic countries are represented in the ESMHE project, and the following organisations has been contributing directly into the project and project activities:
- Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)
- Lærings og kompetancecenteret (Denmark)
- Luleå Technical University (Sweden)
- Norwegian university of science and technology (NTNU) / Universell (Norway)
- University of Iceland (Iceland)
- University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
- University of Southern Denmark (Denmark)
- University of Turku (Finland)
Universell has been the coordinator, responsible for project management, the expert group meetings, the country reports and the finalization of the project report. University of Jyväskylä has been responsible for the student survey, the analysis of incoming data from the quantitative and qualitative research, and for co-writing the report together with Universell. The other partners have contributed through expert group meetings, by recruiting students to the research, for writing the reports from each country, and for quality assurance of the final report.
Delimitations
The ESMHE project has adjusted the level of ambitions to be feasible within the time frame and grant awarded to the project. This has led to the following delimitations in the ESMHE project investigations:
- Only 1-2 HEIs from each country, totally 7 HEIs, have been included into the investigation
- The student survey has been spread to students registered at the disability services in the 7 HEIs. The students interviewed has been recruited among the respondents to the general survey.
- The investigation has only questioned student mobility when it comes to exchange programs, full program students (students with disabilities which take a full program in another country) have not been included in the investigation. They might
- When it comes to the statistics, there has been no separate survey within the project, all numbers are from different national surveys and the EUROSTUDENT survey (2015)