Abstract
Contemporaneously higher education is considered an implied context in promoting citizenship, as well as academic and professional, in which the inclusion of people with disabilities becomes increasingly important issue. This article presents the results of a study aimed to explore the concepts of eight students of a university in Portugal about the challenges they faced in trying to be part in the process of inclusion in this level of education. Data collection involved individual semi-structured interviews and online survey, analyzed according to an open system of categorization. The results report that the university environment has little knowledge available on the subject of diversity and inclusion between teachers and students in general; institutional support services for students with disabilities existing has a lack of efficacy in different aspects. Thus, it is argued, from the experience of the investigated students, the need to promote an inclusive culture that prevents prejudice and promotes the autonomy and citizenship. It points out the importance of future studies that expand the debate on inclusion in higher education.
Keywords:
Higher education; disabilities; inclusion.