How Universal Design for Learning Can Support and Retain STEM Learners Across Tertiary Education: A Perspective

This critical perspective aims to showcase good practices across STEM disciplines, in particular chemistry and chemical engineering, and how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can drive and support the inclusion agenda as well as complement university priorities.
With the ever-increasing opportunities and access to university courses/programmes comes diversity in the student population, including in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. This variability includes: gender, international students, mature students, ethnic groups, parents, first generation, neurodiverse learners and students with disabilities. As learner variability comes with such rich diversity and lived experiences this can bring added value to the learning experiences gained from others. However, this diversity and intersectionality can bring many challenges for educators to ensure representation of learners within the content, as well as provision of inclusivity and equity of opportunity. These opportunities apply not only to the provision of access but, more importantly, are key for retention and progression to complete and succeed within a course/programme (Casanova et al. 2023). Consequently, rather than taking a retrofit approach, or focus on differentiation, content needs to be more universal and accessible by assuming from the outset that under-represented learners and those on the margins are in your classroom. So, while planning and designing for a learner-centric inclusive environment, it is necessary to always consider who is advantaged and who is disadvantaged.
This Perspective discusses work of practitioners sharing experiences of embedding inclusion and accessibility within STEM settings. Through this discussion, the authors highlight the benefits of UDL, reflect on some personal experiences and then briefly discuss the future of embedding UDL into STEM subjects.