In the last three decades, inclusive disability legislation has led to an increasing number of students with disabilities entering higher education. However, barriers to the full participation of students remain. This article presents evidence from studies conducted in two Italian universities. Drawing on the Capability Approach, the goal is to analyse the experiences of students with disabilities and to assess their capabilities in academic life. Participatory research methods were adopted using structured focus group discussion techniques. Fifty students with different type of disability participated in the study. Two major findings emerged from the qualitative and quantitative data collected, including: (a) the essential value, in the experience of the students, of being able to use educational spaces, move around outside of the campus and socialize; and (b) low levels of capabilities for students with visual disabilities compared to those with mobility issues, which means that academic inclusion is not for all.

Since the 1990s, the number of people with disabilities enrolled in tertiary education has gradually increased. However, they still face obstacles to graduation (longer paths, lower success rates) and in their transition into the labour market. Framed in the complex issue of profitability of tertiary education, the purpose of this article is to analyze the employment status of graduates with disabilities and the influence of some demographic and academic factors, as well as the use of the local employment services, on their post-university outcomes. A secondary analysis was performed on data related to the academic and professional careers of 241 graduates with disabilities from a large university in northern Italy between 2012 and 2016. The results of the survey (carried out from 1 to 5 years after graduation) suggest that the contact with the employment services plays a significant role in improving employment rates, even if the latter are low, and the gap with peers without disabilities remains. Moreover, some patterns emerge in the outcome analysis: on the one hand, for example, the diffusion of part-time work and of a mismatch between the qualification and the job position achieved, especially for humanities/social science degrees; on the other, getting a job in a relatively short time as well as greater job opportunities for women.

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Despite an increasingly heterogeneous student population, the teaching staff is still characterized by a high level of homogeneity and the under-representation of teachers with disabilities. Research on the issue is also quite limited. To fill this knowledge gap, in this article we present a systematic review conducted by selecting primary studies published between 1990 and 2018 investigating the experiences of teachers with disabilities. The 32 included studies were evaluated in terms of methodological rigor and analyzed through thematic analysis, from which 9 categories emerged. The latter highlight the full potential of these teachers, both in terms of teaching effectiveness and greater understanding of special needs in the classroom, but at the same time they underline the complexity of their careers in learning settings, still partly permeated by ableism and discriminatory practices.   Insegnanti con disabilità e DSA: una revisione sistematica della letteratura internazionale. Pur a fronte di una popolazione studentesca sempre più eterogenea, il corpo docente è ancora caratterizzato da una forte omogeneità e dalla sottorappresentazione di insegnanti con disabilità/DSA. Anche la ricerca sul tema è assai limitata. Per colmare questo gap conoscitivo, in questo articolo presentiamo una systematic review, condotta selezionando gli studi primari pubblicati tra il 1990 e il 2018 sulle esperienze di docenti con disabilità/DSA. I 32 studi inclusi sono stati valutati dal punto di vista del rigore metodologico e analizzati mediante un’analisi tematica, da cui sono emerse 9 categorie. Queste ultime mettono in luce tutto il potenziale di questi insegnanti, sia sul fronte dell’efficacia didattica che della maggiore comprensione dei bisogni speciali in classe, ma allo stesso tempo sottolineano la complessità delle loro carriere in setting di apprendimento ancora in parte permeati da una cultura abilista e da pratiche discriminatorie.

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