Making Inclusive Higher Education a Reality Creating a University for All

Diane Reay, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Cambridge

This inspiring and timely book demonstrates that it is possible to have a university for all. Inclusion is constantly talked about in higher education but rarely reaches the lives of students. 'Making Inclusion in Higher Education a Reality - Creating a University for All' reveals how to make inclusion a reality that permeates every aspect of life in higher education institutions. Drawing on a richly theorised case study of University College Dublin, it shows that once access and inclusion become everyone's business, all students, regardless of background, can feel they belong.

This is an important book addressing one of the abiding challenges for those involved in higher education - ensuring that the life benefits provided by university education are available to all who have the ambition and ability to undertake third level studies, irrespective of their background. From an institutional perspective, the mainstreaming diversity and inclusion is addressed, while practical guidance is provided for embedding inclusive practice at all levels in the institution, down to curriculum design and IT services. I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in making their university more inclusive.

In this volatile and uncertain world, one thing is clear: we need all the talent we can get, to strengthen our societies and our economies, and to ensure a just and sustainable future. To do that, we have to create opportunities for everyone, particularly in higher education.

Making higher education a Reality is, therefore, most welcome, as it brings us one step closer to creating that university for all.

As the pressure to improve inclusion, access, and equity grows in many systems of higher education, scholarly work that is both insightful and practical, is a true find.

The authors of this volume have the knowledge and experience to offer both. Some chapters focus on specific obstacles that stand in the way of inclusive access to HE. Others offer solutions for an institution-wide approach to combatting exclusion.

The book is certainly a worthwhile read!

The editors of this volume have led a revolution in University College Dublin, developing the concept of University for All as a rallying cry for mainstreaming broad and deep approaches to more inclusive approaches to higher education. In this volume they bring together a wide range of expert contributors to offer a reflective and practical guide which shares and makes accessible the experience of effectively advancing University for All for a wide readership interested in further widening participation and effective support for all students.

Stuart Billingham, Emeritus Professor of Lifelong Learning, York St. John University

This work has a very ambitious title but, unlike some which have gone before it, a wide-ranging and very relevant content to match. There are chapters focused, not only on non-European countries (as we should expect these days), but also those which connect broad themes in policy and practice with case study and other types of research. The work deals with "enabling change", alongside "data as a driver of change" and "IT infrastructure and digital accessibility". It covers perhaps more anticipated topics like "programme and curriculum design, teaching and learning". And there is much more. In my view, a work not to miss.

University for All is a tour de force of evidence-based research which will make a significant positive impact on the reality of Inclusive Design for Education in our global universities and higher education institutes, with life-changing results for students of all backgrounds, ages and abilities. The reality is that there is no 'typical student', no one curriculum or approach that works across disciplines or cultures. And now we must move together to the next frontier of Inclusive Design for Education. This excellent book provides the evidence, examples, and toolkit to support educators and students to move forward with scaffolding to that new frontier!

Making Inclusive Higher Education a Reality is a must-read for each of us working towards more equitable colleges, more equitable higher education systems, or more equitable national higher education policy. The authors take a practical approach that recognises the constraints under which higher education operates and offer realistic steps any institution can take to become more inclusive, more diverse, more prepared to assure that 21st-century students are welcomed and can excel.