Two-thirds of disabled PhD students poorly supported, says study

A confusing patchwork of support, administrative burdens and a lack of training for supervisors is hampering the experiences of disabled PhD students in the UK, according to new research.

Only a third (33 per cent) of postgraduate research students polled for the study – produced by Disabled Students UK, Pete Quinn Consulting and the Oxford Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership – said they felt they had received the support they needed to be on an equal footing with their non-disabled peers.

“This is concerning considering that the duty to disabled students is to provide all reasonable adjustments which remove the substantial disadvantage they face,” the organisations’ report says.

A total of 192 students – primarily in the life sciences – took the survey, with a quarter studying at the University of Oxford and the rest based across 45 other universities. Focus groups were also held.

While most universities have specific departments and staff dedicated to disability support, the report says that nearly half (43 per cent) of the PhD students did not know where to go to access support.

The individual nature of PhD study meant there were a lot of misunderstandings among university staff, said Mr Quinn, who added that many of the students voiced frustrations about being signposted to support for lectures or examinations when that was not relevant for their level of study.

“A system that works well in a taught environment isn’t working particularly well in a research environment,” according to Mr Quinn, who said the growing number of disabled PhD students – up by 50 per cent in the past five years – meant the issue required increased attention.

The status of a PhD student being in between student and staff member and the mix of different agencies involved was adding to the confusion, the report states.

A key concern was that many of the students reported being told they were not eligible for Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) – worth up to £26,291 a year to cover study-related costs connected to a disability – when in fact they might have been able to access this support by applying through their funders.

A lack of institutional knowledge has the effect of some students “falling through the cracks”, the report says, “as each staff member insisted that someone else was responsible, or simply did not know what support to offer”.

Students lacking support were one and a half times more likely to say that their studies had negatively affected their physical health. Overall, 67 per cent of respondents said that they felt their doctoral studies had affected their physical health and 86 per cent that their degree had negatively affected their mental health and well-being.

Survey participants identified underfunded departments as a key factor in why support was sometimes lacking, citing issues with delays, paperwork getting lost or needs being recorded incorrectly and staff not responding to emails.

While many students reported positive experiences with their supervisors, a significant minority (16 per cent) disagreed that they were accepting and supportive.

A higher proportion (38 per cent) did not feel their supervisors were well equipped to support them, because of a lack of training or resources.

The report recommends a number of measures universities and funding bodies can take to better support disabled PhD students, including reducing the administrative burden, better clarification about which body is responsible for which support, more resources for academic departments and efforts to strengthen the supervisor-supervisee relationship.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com