Desired, Yet Ignored: Disabled International Students and Neoliberal Higher Education

Book: Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy: Constraints and Opportunities by CSMFL Publications

Armineh Soorenian

10.46679/9789349926912ch03
This chapter is a part of: Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy: Constraints and Opportunities
ISBN (Ebook): 978-93-49926-91-2
ISBN (Hardcover Print): 978-93-49926-11-0
ISBN (Softcover Print): 978-93-49926-31-8

© CSMFL Publications & its authors.
Published: May 05, 2026

Soorenian, A. (2026). Desired, Yet Ignored: Disabled International Students and Neoliberal Higher Education. In F. Fovet, Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy: Constraints and Opportunities (pp 57-75). CSMFL Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.46679/9789349926912ch03

Abstract

This chapter discusses Disabled International students’ experiences, seeking to understand how interlocking forms of oppression – ableism and racism – work in tandem to push the impacts of intersectionality in the neoliberal education system. Forming the basis of this work are two separate discussions about Disabled students and International students around their participation in global campuses. It can be argued that COVID-19 posed a new set of challenges for Disabled domestic and non-disabled International students participating in higher education. It therefore also intensified the challenges Disabled students experienced when studying internationally. This chapter explains why, in an increasingly interconnected global society, the need for universities to challenge hegemonic and unequal structures and be inclusive, leaving no one behind, has never been more significant.

Keywords: Disabled International Students, Intersectionality, Ableism, Racism, Higher Education, COVID-19, Educational Inclusion

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