Education for All: Students Share What It Means to Them

“Education for All” is an evolving concept within the world of higher education, one that can mean different things to different people. At McGraw Hill, we are working to better understand and align ourselves with its meaning, and to shape our course materials to fit the needs of institutions, instructors, and students as they strive to make education a more equitable experience for all. 

To that end, we have launched several initiatives, among them our recent white paper, Education for All: What It Takes to Get There. It unpacks Education for All and offers a framework designed to help educators advance it. Another is this blog series in which we ask instructors and students to tell us in their own words what Education for All means to them. 

Lauren Parworth, a student at Texas Tech University, is our second featured respondent. She identifies as a student with disabilities—specifically, ADD and testing anxiety—and as such, shines a light on a marginalized group that may not immediately come to mind when considering those affected by inequities in education.  

In fact, students with disabilities graduate less often from two-year and four-year colleges—between 7 and 17 percentage points, respectively—than those without disabilities. Fortunately, Texas Tech is taking steps to level the playing field for students like Lauren. Another is Purdue University, whose Access Purdue provides a disability resource guide for faculty, staff, and students that illustrates how to request professional and academic accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the ADA Amendments Act.  

Lauren's response:

To me, equity on campus means fairness, campus diversity, and equal opportunity. All these aspects of equity are extremely important for college students’ success and have greatly benefitted me personally.  

For example, I am registered with SDS (Student Disability Services) because I have ADD and testing anxiety. As a result, I have been given many educational resources such as the quiet Testing Center, which has helped me tremendously in my studies and has provided fairness for other students with disabilities. Many similar resources such as the Writing Center and Career Center are offered to all students across campus, which provides an equal opportunity to succeed and excel.   

Throughout my college experience, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by diversity. I attend a large, accredited university, Texas Tech, where students from all over the world come to study. There is diversity everywhere and in everything. As a young adult, I’m surrounded by so many different cultures and viewpoints of life. I never stop learning new things! 

For more information on Education for All, click here.