Freie Universität Berlin adopts a social model of disability as its basis. This means that it understands disability not as an individual phenomenon but as something createdby society. This approach puts the emphasis on situations in which people are disabled by barriers in society and focuses on the interactions between people, institutions, and social discourse.

Many individuals with a disability, chronic illness, or health issues – including those that affect mental health and cognition – work and study at Freie Universität Berlin. The university strives to  foster an environment for teaching, studying, and working in which the identities and experiences of these people are meaningfully recognized, where they feel safe and respected, where they know they can play an active role in university life, and where they can further develop themselves thanks to equitable participation. This means providing support whenever discrimination occurs on an individual level as well as implementing sustainable structural measures to promote equal opportunities for everyone.

Objectives

In addition to the university’s overarching diversity goals, which take multiple dimensions of diversity into account, Freie Universität Berlin has set the following objectives (and measures for achieving them) that specifically refer to disability, chronic illness, and health issues:

• Empower students with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and mental health issues.
• Provide students with a disability or chronic illness with compensation for disadvantages in accordance per their rights.
• Raise awareness among university members on the subject of disability, chronic illness, and mental health issues.
• Provide students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses and mental health issues with easy access to information and support structures.
• Ensure that students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses and mental health issues are able to communicate their own needs and interests and provide input on new and existing measures.
• Raise awareness among employees for the needs of people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and mental health issues.

Studying with a Disability, Chronic Illness, or Health Issue

Many students at Freie Universität Berlin state that they have a disability, chronic illness and/or other health issues. This amounts to approximately 12% of bachelor’s degree students. In a survey carried out in 2019, approximately 25% of students reported having a depressive disorder, while 30% reported being affected by a generalized anxiety disorder.[1]

Compensation for Disadvantages

Students with disabilities and chronic illnesses have a legal right to apply for so-called “compensation for disadvantages”. These are measures that help to compensate for disadvantages, for example by extending deadlines.

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[1] Source: Bachelorbefragung 2015; University Health Report 2019

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