Considering Disability in Campus Housing: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Resident Directors' Understandings of Disability

The residential experiences of students with disabilities in higher education play a pivotal role in their overall campus education. However, little is known about the ways that staff who manage and support these residential environments understand and work with issues and concepts of disability. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, this study examines how resident directors think about and work with disability within their positions in residential management. The study also explores how resident directors think about and understand disability as a component of diversity, the steps that they take in working with students with disabilities, and the support they provide their student staff in fostering residential communities inclusive of students with disabilities. The findings suggest that resident directors' work related to disabilities and disability identity is marked by tensions between individual understandings of disability and institutional systems and job expectations. Suggestions are provided for ways to better support resident directors as they navigate a conflict between personal beliefs and positional responsibilities. [Discussion questions prepared by Abel Ramirez and Cornelia Forrester Slate.]