Editor's Message
More than just ramps & railings
By Afifah Darke
As a former journalist, it has become second nature for me to want to dig deeper and harder into stories that pique my interest. This is, of course, dependent on the topic, but if it's an important subject, I don't perceive it as milking a story - but rather as an opportunity and exercise to amplify underrepresented voices, hidden angles and uncover new solutions to old problems.
The topic of disability in higher education, which is the cover story of this edition's QS Insights Magazine, isn't new. In fact, recent years have seen students demanding that universities have more conversations and implement policies around inclusivity. But, in the spirit of exploring new and less-discussed angles - what about academics with disabilities?
In 2020, it was estimated that about one percent of grant-funded researchers at the National Science Foundation in the US had disabilities. If we zoom out and understand that actually about 27 percent of US adults have a disability, we naturally arrive to the question: where are all the other researchers? This is what sparked the team to look further into the story Dis/Ability.
Closer to home, I reached out to Victor Zhuang, who does wonderful work with research on disability and inclusion in contemporary societies such as Singapore. Victor and his team contributed an article to this edition, looking at why having inclusive smart cities is crucial for a sustainable future.
A paragraph that really struck me was this: "Rather than to see disability as the concern of just the few, we need to recognise disability as central to the imaginings of human society."
This particular line brought me back to the first ever story I wrote for QS, which looked at the struggles of single mother students, and I interviewed Nicole Lyn Lewis, a former teen mother and founder of non-profit organisation Generation Hope. She mentioned that it was so important for student parents to have cheerleaders on campus who could stand up for and with them for their basic needs on campus. She told me: "We are all gatekeepers of some sort of resources in some way".
Two years later, and on the second edition of being the guest editor of a QS magazine, it seems to me that behind many accomplished universities therein lie many more individuals who spend most, if not all, of their lives trying to better the spaces around them.
Just like how slapping a bandage on a broken arm would not help the arm heal, the sector needs to dig deeper and harder - and look beyond just building ramps and railings for people with disabilities - when it comes to providing support to people, and not just students, in the classrooms.
I hope you enjoy reading this edition of QS Insights Magazine as much as the team has enjoyed putting it together.
Afifah Darke
Afifah is the Deputy Editor of QS Insights Magazine. She also assists with the original content and themes of QS Higher Ed Summits. A former journalist, Afifah was from Channel NewsAsia's digital team, as well as a news assistant at CNBC Asia.