Slagen met dyslexie in het hoger onderwijs

Abstract

Between 2009 and 2015, a large-scale, longitudinal study was started at Ghent University into studying with dyslexia in higher education. The aim was to gain a broad picture of students with dyslexia starting in higher education in Flanders. In addition, these students were monitored for 3 academic years to gain a better picture of their study progress and study results.

As a group, the students with dyslexia often performed lower than the students without dyslexia, especially for reading and spelling. Spelling was more affected than reading. In addition, students with dyslexia had slower processing speed than students without dyslexia. Students with dyslexia also took longer to recall verbal information from their long-term memory (e.g., simple math facts) than students without dyslexia. As far as (fluid) intelligence is concerned, no difference was found between the two groups.

Regarding pass rates, 70% of the control students, against 57% of the students with dyslexia, obtained a bachelor's degree after three years. However, this difference was not significant. In addition, we saw significantly higher dropout rates among students with dyslexia compared to students without dyslexia. Students with dyslexia had an increased risk of dropping out and/or changing direction during the academic year. The factors involved are currently being investigated.

An important finding of this study remains that students with dyslexia undeniably face additional challenges, but that tertiary education study is certainly feasible for students with dyslexia. These students therefore benefit from good study choice guidance and preparation for their transition from secondary to higher education.