Abstract:

The article presents the case study of one of the leading technical universities in Poland concerning the evaluation of accessibility of universities for people with disabilities, in the context of diversity management in HEI. The main aim of the research is to diagnose the level of knowledge and experience of students with and without disabilities in the area of disability and support for people with disabilities given by the University. The main assumption of the research concerns the existence of the relation between the level of knowledge of those two groups about themselves and their experience with each other and the open attitude and lack of prejudice between them, which should be the main goal of diversity management in this issue. The results suggest a relatively low level of knowledge and experience of able-bodied students concerning people with disabilities. As the effect, a declaratively open attitude can be observed, but not well-grounded and reflective. Therefore, the process of increasing the accessibility of universities should focus on creating a community based on reliable knowledge and more intense experience of collective activities.