Fostering a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education (www.kiu.ac.ug)

https://rijournals.com/current-research-in-humanities-and-social-sciences/
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited
Page
6
https://doi.org/10.59298/RIJCRHSS/2025/41610
Fostering a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education
Asiimwe Aisha
Department of Public Administration and Management Kampala International University Uganda
ABSTRACT
Higher education institutions serve as catalysts for social mobility, intellectual growth, and career
preparation. However, fostering a culture of inclusion within these institutions remains a challenge due to
systemic barriers, historical inequities, and institutional inertia. This paper examines the importance of
inclusive practices in higher education, emphasizing the role of diverse perspectives in enhancing critical
thinking, academic success, and social belonging. It identifies key barriers to inclusion, including
economic disparities, cultural biases, and lack of representation among faculty and leadership.
Furthermore, the paper discusses strategies for promoting inclusive environments, such as curriculum
diversification, equity-driven policies, and inclusive teaching methodologies. Through case studies and
best practices, the paper illustrates how institutions can create an environment that values diversity,
equity, and inclusion, ultimately preparing students to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and
multicultural world.
Keywords: Inclusion, Higher Education, Diversity, Equity, Institutional Barriers, Inclusive Pedagogy,
Representation.
INTRODUCTION
Creating a culture of inclusion is a daunting task but a necessary pursuit. It is a requirement for those
who hope to develop future thinkers, scientists, athletes, creators, and leaders because these individuals
often leave higher educational settings to shape fields and lead communities. It is also the mandate of
those who work with college-aged students because educational spaces are meant to bridge from who
students are towards who they become. As institutions invite students from a range of backgrounds, it is
incumbent on those institutions to help everyone navigate differing approaches to energy, learning,
process of thought, understanding, and cultural frames. While colleges and universities are spaces of
higher education and career workshops, they must also be campfire-community spaces, places where
students discover and explore the kinds of people they want to be and the people they want to walk
alongside. Given how central educational settings are for exposure to others, it is worth beginning a
conversation about fostering inclusion by thinking about what it is hoped students are learning in these
spaces. The term inclusion refers to the degree to which people feel valued, respected, and welcome.
Development within educational spaces hinges in large part on the sorts of dynamics one is exposed to
and what concepts and practices one is prepared to navigate, both in discourse and emotion. Students
learn deeply from others, and some of the toughest, most potent information can come through modeling
and socialization. Anyone working in higher educational settings, whether as a student, a professor, a staff
member, or in some other capacity, should consider the environment intentionally shaped and the one
being passively created [1, 2, 3].
The Importance of Inclusion in Higher Education
Inclusive practices are of fundamental importance in higher education. Diverse classrooms allow for a
variety of perspectives on any given issue. This diversity and the varied lived experiences that come with
it offer an opportunity for deeper critical thinking and analysis. In inclusive classrooms, students and
faculty alike are exposed to broader discussions and learning opportunities as the input on any given idea,
lesson, or reading should be more layered and complex due to the diverse viewpoints. Additionally, by
RESEARCH INVENTION JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL
SCIENCES 4(1):6-10, 2025
©RIJCRHSS Publications ONLINE ISSN: 1115-9030
PRINT ISSN 1597-8745

Page
7
fostering a culture of inclusion, students are better prepared for a global society—increasing
opportunities for empathizing, understanding, and working with those who come from backgrounds
starkly different from their own. Inclusive practices are equally important on the administrative side of a
college or university. The students at any academic institution reflect the times in which they are being
taught, but the faculty and administration should reflect the demographics of the future, too. College and
university faculty by and large come from families where higher education was not only common but
expected. Currently, out of around 1,800 institutions, 80% of faculty are white, 55% are men, and over
60% of faculty come from households that have always made more than the average US household.
Furthermore, it is a matter of institutional accountability. Institutional commitment is indicative of a
moral imperative. Our society is stronger when it is diverse, and actively engaging with a diverse student
body, faculty, and staff can be the catalyst that drives new thoughts and ideas. Education is designed to
foster challenging currents norms; it’s time it did so with diversity’s role in higher institutions.
Furthermore, in the current neoliberal climate, it is important to mention that inclusivity is good
business. Currently, colleges and all corporate institutions are having to compete fiercely, and for both,
reputation and the ceiling for talent are inextricable from the diversity of its community. Throughout the
history of this nation, passive support has proven insufficient to affect real change and equitable rights; it
is not speculation that no such change will come if there isn’t some tangible set of protocols to enforce
such change [4, 5, 6].
Barriers to Inclusion in Higher Education
Advanced education is globally viewed as a quantifiable key to human and financial improvement.
Favourable inclusion and diversity is a focal standard inside national colleges, higher education, or post-
secondary education foundations, both globally and inside the UK. Inclusion has been characterized in the
UK as admittance to higher education, gender analysis, military consideration, and equality of chance.
Greater equity of access has been accomplished inside higher education, but, in isolation, this has not
supported development in the maintenance and achievements of varying scholar populaces. One could
contend that caste bias presently exists inside higher education, both systemically and culturally, since
developing grounds are framed by pervasive society. Appreciation of blocks to favourable inclusion within
higher education is fundamental to segregate and dismantle them [7, 8, 9]. Schooling presents imperative
milestones in senior scholars' educational livelihood. Scholars' readings of their posting comfort can infuse
numerous related considerations among performance. Generally, boundaries incorporate fiscal situations,
scholars' grants, and supplementary professional guidance. There are blocks to support discrimination,
the more senior scholars are abused in the teaching environment, in senior increasing apprehension,
resulting in academic inadequacy. Academic fallacy regularly enlightens contribution - lack of sustenance;
lack of remarkable tenet on the elements of semi-prepared markers; expedited evaluation timeframes;
ostensible deficiency of reply in the teaching affair. Interpellation notes scholars' brutal discovery of
senior scholarly perceptivities. There is a demand for traits in the appraisal of figure professionalism.
Scholars do maintain that they are tormented severely and denied the chance to redeem themselves in
other intense schooling conditions [10, 11, 12].
Strategies for Promoting Inclusion
Prominent higher education leaders across North America indicate that the next major equity challenge is
the need for strong strategies to promote a widespread culture of inclusion on campus. Although there are
many excellent individual initiatives in curricula, service delivery, or student supports, the overall
learning and working environment, for both students and staff, remains largely framed by Western
society's historical and contemporary exclusion of people based on race, difference in physical or sensory
ability, religion, and a host of other differences. Activities, policies, and underlying beliefs converge to
shape a culture of inclusion on campus. Two recent Canadian surveys, as well as other research reports
from the United States, confirm the trend of increasing diversity in the student population, juxtaposed
with the continuing overrepresentation of White faculty, particularly in senior academic ranks.
Conversely, the intense debates over the relative numbers of students of color admitted to U.S.
universities confirm that the ultimate sites of power and influence in academe remain White. Engagement
with the discipline and profession is more complex but also important to analyze in the context of
promoting inclusion and equity in and beyond institutions. There are clear calls from education funding
bodies in several countries to develop strategies around the notion of inclusive education, as well as a
range of initiatives at a national discipline level. In this context, relatively few of the documented
interventions note engagement with the teaching of the discipline, including the inherent whiteness,

Page
8
maleness, or other social conditions of much of the academic literature. The situation is similar in most
discipline-based education research work, which has tended to focus on students rather than faculty in
terms of how different social conditions intersect with academic learning. Here, findings from a large
universal access in science education project are drawn on to indicate typical challenges experienced by
disabled and other student groups traditionally marginalized by post-compulsory science learning.
Similarly, educational and research interventions developed within the more minority-focused programs
show the multi-dimensional nature of existing practices, modes of recognition, and decision-making. This
background is drawn on to suggest a range of strategies that might be taken up by academic staff to
create a more inclusive discipline and profession, both within their university community and beyond [13,
14, 15]. There are multiple ways in which the teaching and learning environment can be positively
refined to better meet the needs of students in higher education. The challenge is discussed elsewhere in
terms of curriculum diversification, inclusive methodologies, and the incorporation of a multiplicity of
different assessment tasks. Here, the focus is more centrally from the point of view of the student that is
on the match between individual learning preference, or different physical or psychological capacity, and
teaching methodology. Responding to a remarkable student campaign, which combined the powerful and
emotive rhetoric of disability with impressive practical strategies, the university community engaged in
overt attempts to make individual classes more accessible. Amplification for students with more severe
hearing losses, both in lectures and tutorials, was practiced in some instances by tutors for groups
learning an unfamiliar spoken language. There was also an impetus for those lecturers who had not
already done so to make overheads and slide transparencies available to students across the various units
of study. An own laptop lead was then lugged around and eventually also connected to the data projector
with a great degree of muttering and occasional sparks. There is no doubt that this process made things
better, at least for deaf and hard-of-hearing students and staff. However, it also began to stimulate a wider
debate, among both students and academics, concerning how the already quite diverse learning needs and
preferences of the student population might also be better accommodated. This debate demands more
than willing, individual accommodation, but rather is one to be engaged with at a systemic level by the
academic and wider educational community. In Australia, attention to such issues arises in the context of
broader debates concerning the nature and quality of the learning experience in universities, as
exemplified in recent research projects examining students' views of various aspects of the university
community, such as their perceptions of the services, value and purpose of study, leadership and campus
environment. Visibility and positive social affirmation of difference are facilitated. For example, faculty
and staff with a physical disability, who are often much less visible or socially affirmed, noted a dramatic
shift in the behavior and words of acquaintances towards them after openly taking up the campaign. One
Greek woman smiles ruefully, "It is disconcerting how accommodating and nice everyone is to my face
now. It is as if they gain some pseudo-virtue through being seen to care about me". Engendering of
community should not just rest with campaigns... rather the aim should be to create a deeper and broader
sense of social belonging and mutual respect, as well as actual access to information and feedback, across
the span of peoples and issues represented in the university community. Hence, all of us, facilitators and
participants of various campaigns in favor of inclusion and diversity, continue to struggle in our different
ways to promote the shared values of justice, respect, and understanding [16, 17, 18].
Case Studies and Best Practices
As higher educational institutions welcome diverse populations, they are aware that there is a need for
strategic planning so that all students can successfully navigate the college environment. Various
strategies are to be utilized to obviate the challenges that face these diverse populations. The community
of practice (CoP) has been extensively reported to provide dynamic collaborative network resources
where members actively engage in shared, negotiated, and interactive activities to increase the sense of
belongingness and ownership [19, 20, 21]. Challenges faced by the students in higher education are
dissimilar background of knowledge in previous study, alien languages, different reading materials,
dissimilar learning conceptualizations, and cognitive processing ability differences. In mathematics,
students entering higher education programs have different levels of understanding mathematics. This
implies that higher education lecturers need to make the learning environment an inclusive one where
their bombastic know-how can be improved collectively. The cultivation of CoP can be a step to meet the
needs. The cultivation of CoP among academicians is a critical challenge for teaching diverse learners as
they need to strategize the pedagogy in preparing the students facing the readiness assessment in a
higher education setting [22, 23, 24]. Real-life examples of inclusive practices are provided through case

Page
9
studies on fostering inclusive culture in several teaching campuses. These captivating institutions provide
acknowledgment on the challenges encountered and the strategies deliberated meticulously in the course
of developing inclusive practices in higher education teaching campuses, and postulate vital insights on
the creative strategies used by these institutions in tackling their everyday practice, thus improving their
students’ acquirement and building an inclusive culture in their ambiance. There is no single one-
alignment-fits-all solution in implementing inclusive practices. Several organizational levels of strategic
planning are necessary in executing inclusive practices at respective higher education institutions.
Campus leaders should come up with comprehensive strategic planning at the policy level, program level,
and community level. However, campus leaders need to obtain feedback from lecturers, tutors, students,
and parents to advance the effectiveness of their current practices [25, 26, 27].
CONCLUSION
Creating an inclusive culture in higher education is not merely an ethical obligation but a strategic
imperative for fostering innovation, critical thinking, and social cohesion. Institutions must move beyond
passive support and take concrete actions to dismantle barriers that hinder diversity and inclusion. This
includes addressing structural inequities, revising curricula to reflect diverse perspectives, and ensuring
representation among faculty and administrators. By actively cultivating inclusive spaces through policy
reforms, pedagogical innovations, and community engagement, higher education can become a
transformative force in shaping equitable societies. Ultimately, the success of inclusion efforts will be
measured not only by institutional policies but by the lived experiences of students, faculty, and staff who
feel truly valued and empowered in their academic journeys.
REFERENCES
1. Roberson Q, Perry JL. Inclusive leadership in thought and action: A thematic analysis. Group &
Organization Management. 2022. umich.edu
2. Javed B, Fatima T, Khan AK, Bashir S. Impact of inclusive leadership on innovative work
behavior: the role of creative self‐efficacy. The Journal of Creative Behavior. 2021 Sep;55(3):769-
82. [HTML]
3. Page A, Charteris J, Anderson J, Boyle C. Fostering school connectedness online for students
with diverse learning needs: Inclusive education in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
European Journal of Special Needs Education. 2021 Jan 1;36(1):142-56. exeter.ac.uk
4. Campbell SL. Ratings in black and white: A quantcrit examination of race and gender in teacher
evaluation reform. Race Ethnicity and Education. 2023. academia.edu
5. Bartanen B, Grissom JA. School principal race, teacher racial diversity, and student achievement.
Journal of Human Resources. 2023. vanderbilt.edu
6. Kumar A, Soundararajan V, Bapuji H, Köhler T, Alcadipani R, Morsing M, Coraiola DM.
Unequal worlds: management education and inequalities. Academy of Management Learning &
Education. 2024 Sep;23(3):379-86. aom.org
7. Carroll EM, Walker TD, Croft A. White Americans report more positive than negative affect
after writing a personal diversity statement. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 2024
Aug;17(4):552. [HTML]
8. Aithal PS, Maiya AK. Innovations in higher education industry–Shaping the future.
International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT, and Education (IJCSBE). 2023 Nov
18;7(4):283-311. ssrn.com
9. Charitaki G, Kourti I, Gregory JL, Ozturk M, Ismail Z, Alevriadou A, Soulis SG, Sakici Ş,
Demirel C. Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: a cross-national exploration. Trends
in Psychology. 2022 Nov 15:1-28. springer.com
10. Mazieres SF, Jensen K. The Unhushed Classroom: Implementing Inclusive Math Practices.
Handbook of Anti-Discriminatory Education. 2025. [HTML]
11. Pires AC, Bakala E, González-Perilli F, Sansone G, Fleischer B, Marichal S, Guerreiro T.
Learning maths with a tangible user interface: Lessons learned through participatory design
with children with visual impairments and their educators. International Journal of Child-
Computer Interaction. 2022 Jun 1;32:100382. google.com
12. Calderón A, Scanlon D, MacPhail A, Moody B. An integrated blended learning approach for
physical education teacher education programmes: teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’
experiences. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. 2021 Nov 2;26(6):562-77. ul.ie

Page
10
13. Bole D. 'What is industrial culture anyway?'Theoretical framing of the concept in economic
geography. Geography Compass. 2021. wiley.com
14. Lipman P. Beyond accountability: Toward schools that create new people for a new way of life.
The critical pedagogy reader. 2023. [HTML]
15. Stein S. Unsettling the university: Confronting the colonial foundations of US higher education.
2022. [HTML]
16. Luckin R, Cukurova M, Kent C, Du Boulay B. Empowering educators to be AI-ready. Computers
and Education: Artificial Intelligence. 2022 Jan 1;3:100076. sciencedirect.com
17. Greenhow C, Graham CR, Koehler MJ. Foundations of online learning: Challenges and
opportunities. Educational Psychologist. 2022. [HTML]
18. Aftandilian D, Dart L. Using garden-based service-learning to work toward food justice, better
educate students, and strengthen campus-community ties. Journal of community engagement
and scholarship. 2022 Aug 1;6(1). ua.edu
19. Stanca L, Dabija DC, Păcurar E. Community of practice: Converting IT graduate students into
specialists via professional knowledge sharing. Kybernetes. 2022. [HTML]
20. Polizzi SJ, Zhu Y, Reid JW, Ofem B, Salisbury S, Beeth M, Roehrig G, Mohr-Schroeder M,
Sheppard K, Rushton GT. Science and mathematics teacher communities of practice: social
influences on discipline-based identity and self-efficacy beliefs. International Journal of STEM
Education. 2021 Dec;8:1-8. springer.com
21. Nicolini D, Pyrko I, Omidvar O, Spanellis A. Understanding communities of practice: Taking
stock and moving forward. Academy of Management Annals. 2022 Jul;16(2):680-718. bi.no
22. Akour M, Alenezi M. Higher education future in the era of digital transformation. Education
Sciences. 2022. mdpi.com
23. Naik GL, Deshpande M, Shivananda DC, Ajey CP, Manjunath Patel GC. Online teaching and
learning of higher education in India during COVID-19 Emergency Lockdown. Pedagogical
Research. 2021;6(1). ed.gov
24. Paudel P. Online education: Benefits, challenges and strategies during and after COVID-19 in
higher education.. International Journal on Studies in Education (IJonSE). 2021. academia.edu
25. Rrofiah K, Ngenge RT, Sujarwanto S, Ainin IK. Inclusive education at Universitas Negeri
Surabaya: Perceptions and realities of students with disabilities. International Journal of Special
Education. 2023 Oct 27;38(2):14-25. internationalsped.com
26. Cobian KP, Hurtado S, Romero AL, Gutzwa JA. Enacting inclusive science: Culturally
responsive higher education practices in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and
medicine (STEMM). Plos one. 2024. plos.org
27. Sharma U, Grové C, Laletas S, Rangarajan R, Finkelstein S. Bridging gaps between theory and
practice of inclusion through an innovative partnership between university academics and school
educators in Australia. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 2023 Aug 24;27(10):1102-
17. [HTML]
CITE ON: Asiimwe Aisha. (2025). Fostering a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education. RESEARCH
INVENTION JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 4(1):6-
10. https://doi.org/10.59298/RIJCRHSS/2025/41610

Fostering a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education (www.kiu.ac.ug)

More Related Content

Similar to Fostering a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education (www.kiu.ac.ug)

More from publication11

Recently uploaded

Fostering a Culture of Inclusion in Higher Education (www.kiu.ac.ug)