Presentation at the Symposium on Disability Studies

31. July 2019
Portrait of Tizita Gebremariam
The PhD research of APPEAR scholarship holder, Tizita Kassahun Gebremariam, focuses on the intersection of multiple social factors in the experiences of female students with disabilities at selected universities in Ethiopia.

Since 2018 Tizita has been a PhD student at the Department of Education at the University of Vienna, nominated by the APPEAR project INEDIS. At the Interdisciplinary International Symposium "Disability Studies & Participation in Higher Education" she presented her preliminary PhD results. So far the intersection of multiple social factors regarding female students with disabilities has not got much attention among researchers in Ethiopia. Therefore her study looked into the interactions and convergence of multiple social factors and how they shape the experiences of women students with disabilities.

The symposium, from 27-29 June 2019 at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, addressed four thematic areas: barriers to access higher education, barriers and participation in higher education, the contributions of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education and, finally, alternative routes to participate in higher education. Researchers working on a large array of topics related to disability and higher education from architectural concerns to human rights and politics from various parts of the globe met there.

Tizita Kassahun Gebremariam is a PhD student at the Department of Education at the University of Vienna. She got her master’s degree from Addis Ababa University in 2014 and her bachelor’s degree from Dilla University in the field of Special Needs Education in 2012. Prior to her PhD studies Tizita worked as a department head, gender office focal person and lecturer of Dilla University for four years.