Deaf individuals’ ways of navigating graduate school

This research, Deaf Individuals' Ways of Navigating Graduate School, is qualitative in nature, based on a constructivist research paradigm and informed by disability/deaf studies and feminist theory in which case studies were creating using questionnaires and interviews. The population of students who are deaf or hard of hearing that attend graduate school has increased over the years, in part due to societal efforts to provide greater access to various minorities in general. These students present challenges to the institution in terms of access due to their linguistic and cultural differences as well as administrative and budgetary demands for services. The purpose of this study was to ascertain coping strategies that deaf and hard of hearing graduate students use, as well as the universal design strategies employed by graduate departments, to assist DHH graduate students in finishing their degree programs. The importance of this dissertation is apparent from the lack of recent studies involving deaf individuals who attend postsecondary school. The review of the literature has shown that deaf graduate students make up approximately .00000207% of the graduate school population. This qualitative approach employed purposeful sampling to select five participants. Concurrent data collection consisted of background questionnaires and interviews that were recorded using both audio and visual. The overall strategy of analysis was coding and review via a constructivist and disability studies lens. The findings showed that when deaf and hard-of-hearing graduate students feel supported in their graduate study, they are more likely to be successful. Support can include appropriate accommodations, department or student-organized study groups, and program or department advising or counseling. Recommendations for universities as well as policy-makers working with this student population are also provided.