Abstract

The pursuit of disabled students’ inclusion in higher education remains a significant global concern, particularly in developing nations where systemic and institutional barriers persist. In Kenya, despite progressive legislative and policy frameworks promoting inclusive education, universities continue to encounter structural, financial and attitudinal challenges that hinder equal participation in learning and research for disabled students. This study aims to identify, analyze and prioritize the barriers, including physical, attitudinal, curriculum, political, communication, societal, financial, knowledge and institutional, affecting disabled students’ inclusion in learning and research opportunities in Kenyan higher education institutions. Employing quantitative research design, data was gathered through structured questionnaires distributed among disabled students in institutions of higher learning. The data were analyzed using the Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation (FSE) approach, which integrates fuzzy logic with descriptive statistics to objectively determine the weight, level of agreement and internal consistency of the identified barriers. Among the nine barriers, financial constraints emerged as the most severe impediment, followed by knowledge and training barriers and institutional structures. The findings underscore that resource scarcity, insufficient professional development and weak administrative enforcement remain the foremost obstacles to achieving genuine inclusion in selected universities in Kenya. The study contributes theoretically by advancing the application of the FSE model within inclusion research, offering a rigorous, data-driven framework for understanding multidimensional social barriers.

Keywords:Fuzzy logic; Rigorous; Knowledge; FSE model; Mobility impairments; Exceedingly low