Adaptation of Index for Inclusion to the field of higher education: Preliminary study

Abstract

Purpose: Our research focuses on a preliminary study on the adaptation of the Index for Inclusion to the university context. This tool would allow evaluating cultures, policies and practices of educational institutions, as well as to implement inclusive development actions in each of these areas, going from innovation to educational transformation. Design/methodology: The descriptive design of the first phase of the study provides an overview of the scene in this area. Then, using the indicators from the original survey of the Index, it selects 48 items adapted to the Higher Education context. The analysis of agreement among expert judges proved the content validity of those items. Findings: The paper concludes with a revised version of the questionnaire, which includes the qualitative inputs gathered during the analysis of the expert judgment, and it updates the theoretical conclusions from the interpretation of the collected data. Research limitations/implications: There is not much published on this topic in Spain, and the overview of the university is still detected as inflexible organization. This attitude could hamper the development of alternatives to shape a new understanding of Higher Education in Spain. Practical implications: The Index for Inclusion could allow universities to perform a collaborative research project that would start from and draw on the organizational practice of the institution's own reality to improve the teachers' training. Social implications: The implementation of this tool would enable a comprehensive approach to the topic of diversity in Spain university context. The entire educational community and non-teaching personal would thus share this focus on social responsibility. Originality/value: The Index for Inclusion would help universities, understood as eminently social -not only academic- institutions, to strengthen the link between their academic-professionalizing value and their social responsibility.