From policy to practice: examining disability inclusion in a university quality assurance context

This qualitative case study examines disability-inclusive quality assurance practices at University of Cape Coast in Ghana, investigating the gap between formal policy commitments and disabled students’ lived experiences. Through interviews with fifteen disabled students and five institutional officers, analysed using institutional theory and the Capability Approach, the study reveals systematic decoupling between policy and practice across three domains: assistive technology provision, assessment processes, and lecture room environments. Despite formal inclusivity policies, disabled students encounter inadequate assistive technologies requiring personal financial investment, inaccessible assessment scheduling, and unwelcoming environments characterized by attitudinal and infrastructural barriers. These implementation failures reflect competing institutional logics of compliance versus resource optimization that perpetuate symbolic rather than substantive inclusion. The findings demonstrate that quality assurance operates reactively rather than proactively, failing to systematically identify barriers or build institutional capacity for inclusive practices. To address these challenges, the study proposes comprehensive reforms, including establishing a disability inclusion committee with decision-making authority, mainstreaming disability indicators in quality assurance frameworks, implementing mandatory Universal Design for Learning faculty training, conducting accessibility audits with funded remediation plans, and transforming institutional culture through awareness campaigns and robust feedback mechanisms. The study underscores that achieving genuine inclusion requires fundamental transformation of institutional logics, embedding disability inclusion as a core value throughout organizational structures and practices.