Promoting Inclusion in Higher Education: The Challenge for Universities in the 21st Century

This book provides a framework for evaluating policies of inclusion in academic institutions. Today's college students are much different from those enrolled just twenty-five years ago. Students representing a variety of disabilities, sexual orientations, countries, socioeconomic status, religions, etc., want to be included as equal members of the learning community. There are key goals that must be addressed when successfully promoting inclusion, equity and diversity on college and university campuses. These goals should direct our actions in ways that results in educating a community of learners to explore differences as a vehicle for better understanding and developing a more inclusively diverse environment. This document provides the kind of foundational premise and expectations upon which this work should emerge. It represents what we believe to be the next steps towards successfully promoting inclusion in higher education - a challenge for the twenty-first century.