NEURODIVERSITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TIME SERIES DATA ANALYSIS OF THE NEPTUN UNIFIED EDUCATION SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper is linked to the current Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion research in higher education. It uses the Process Model of Inclusion to describe educational data of student groups with special needs, with a particular focus on neurodiversity at the University of Pécs (UP). It explores differences that can be identified when comparing student groups over a 10-year time-series analysis of student data from the Neptun Unified Education System (N = 47,194). Using SPSS, we explore admission rates and faculty distribution at entry, supporting factors during the process, and achievement indicators at the time of exiting university. Our results reveal that neurodivergent students appear in the largest proportion among student groups, nearly half of them receive scholarships, about a third of them acquire language proficiency exam certificates before graduation, and only a quarter of them receive dormitory placement. However, the logistic regression analysis substantiates the rather surprising outcome that neurodivergent students are the most likely to graduate successfully from UP, and they are the least likely to defer semesters during their course of study. Our macro-statistical data provide valuable starting points for our ongoing qualitative research that strives to look beyond these numbers for explanations. Keywords: Process Model of Inclusion, higher education, neurodiversity.