As previously mentioned, Italy has long been recognized as a leader in the promotion of an inclusive national education system.

Toward the mid-1970s, the country began to see strong development of inclusive social policies, which progressively achieved a wide impact on the overall educational system - more specifically, following the enactment of Italian Law 517 of August 4, 1977.

Subsequently, and with the passing of Italian Law 104 of February 5, 1992, amended by Law 17/1999, the right to education for all disabled students was established not only within childhood education settings, but also within university settings (Art. 12).

This law ensured that all university students with disabilities be provided with technical and educational materials, specialized tutoring, modified exam materials, and a coordinating instructor, as well as monitoring and support throughout all initiatives and proposals regarding inclusion within university settings.

Furthermore, and in accordance with theoretical assumptions that began developing in the 1990s, the implementation of this law reinforced the focus on students with disabilities in all Italian educational systems, including the definition of “disability” itself, which became more inclusive than in the 1970s, reflecting a new level of educational awareness which was, at the time, waning at policy level in Spain (Dettori, 2011).

Since then, an abundance of innovative events have taken place within the Italian educational system that have been essential in promoting social change, allowing for an increased rate of enrollment among disabled students in higher education institutions in Italy.

Nonetheless, and despite these inclusive aspects, the majority of disabled individuals within Italy obtain lower levels of education in comparison to the rest of the population. Seldom do students actually choose to enroll at a university to pursue academic studies. Only 2.55% of all disabled individuals have some type of undergraduate or graduate-level degree, and 49.88% only reach primary education levels, whereas 22.83% do not attain any level of education (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica [ISTAT], 2009).

In this sense, Italy’s inclusion process is not altogether free from criticism, due to limited funding and collaboration between public organizations and society in general, as well as insufficient information and awareness among the university community concerning the implications disabilities have on the learning and development of special needs students (Pascale et al., 2017). There is also a lack of specialized teachers with appropriate levels of education regarding academic and learning support and a lack of training aimed at non-specialized professors.

One of the main obstacles to the inclusion of students within the classroom environment and diversity awareness among students throughout the teaching-learning process is the overall attitude and opinion held by staff members and the rest of the educational community.

Many authors have come to understand that the opinions and attitudes held concerning disabled students are key components in their overall academic success and acceptance within the teaching-learning process (Crispiani, 2016; Macías et al., 2019).

Teachers should be trained and made aware of this in order to understand the advantages that change can have on cultural acceptance, and a general attitude of acceptance and readiness is essential in all educational and social reform processes. The acquisition of commitment skills is a key factor in achieving full inclusion within the classroom environment. Thus, a number of studies have been carried out at the Complutense University of Madrid that have sought to explore the attitudes of future teachers in primary and secondary education toward university students with disabilities. The results, from a sample of 314 students, highlight the fact that students have positive attitudes, although significant differences have been found between the different subgroups of degrees (Macías et al., 2019).

Similar publications exist on students’ opinions and attitudes toward disabled students by authors such as Crispiani (2016), who focuses on the integration of special needs students, and Solís et al. (2019), who focus on the overall acceptance of disabled students.

Many studies have been undertaken regarding inclusive classroom environments at primary and secondary education levels (Castillo, 2019; Crisol, 2019), but the same cannot be said about university level (see, for example, the review by Mellado et al., 2017).

It is therefore helpful to take a look at the study by Ester (2016), which focuses on the opinions and attitudes that university students have toward disabled students, pointing out that if students were to demonstrate a positive attitude toward the educational inclusion of disabled students from the start of their degree course, all students will tend to improve their attitudes toward the end of their academic studies. In relation to this issue, there exists, for example, research by Savia (2019) that shows that inclusive education represents an important challenge in teaching today, highlighting some emerging didactic problems in the Italian context, specifically linked to teachers’ perception of disability and the difficulties of effective collaboration between teachers. Thus, university students often tend to regard academic staff as poorly trained for inclusive teaching and may feel concerned about anonymity when disclosing disabilities, worrying about the way they are perceived by others (Armstrong et al., 2000; Osborne, 2019; Prets & Weber, 2005).

Universities must play a more active role to eliminate barriers to access and participation. Some studies point towards increasing funding, establishing disability offices, and incorporating Universal Design (UD) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to increase participation (Moliner et al., 2019; Yusof et al., 2019).

Suriá (2011), who carries out a comparative analysis of the attitudes of students toward their disabled classmates, stresses that college students demonstrate more positive attitudes toward their disabled classmates than high school students. The same author also points out that there is an overall higher level of awareness toward disabled individuals among students who interact with special needs classmates, a finding backed up by Bausela (2002) and Sarkar (2016).

Some of the most recent studies on this issue were conducted by Sánchez (2009) in Almería, Spain, and Guzmán and Sánchez (2011) in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Both studies analyzed the opinions and attitudes prevalent in the various departments of the educational community (including those of the disabled students themselves) toward special needs students in countries that are more diverse as far as economic development and cultural acceptance are concerned. Other studies indicate that the inclusion of disabled students in higher levels of education is a task that has yet to be fully accomplished at university level, considering that inclusive society approaches require generalized demands given that diversity in itself is a principle of education that provides a positive contribution to the general population.

Both studies affirm that analyses still need to be carried out on this issue in other Andalusian and Spanish universities, as well as on the causes and motives behind such realities and the specific approaches that are being undertaken in order to confront them. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to complement previous studies in which we participated as part of the research team within the University of Almería and the University of Tlaxcala, contrasting the results obtained in these two universities with those obtained in Bologna (Italy). Italy is a European country that, like Spain, has a long history of educational inclusion and which, after having undergone an initial “ideological” stage of educational inclusion, has also decided to implement this idea within the structures and operations of the country’s universities, which requires the support of rigorous and pivotal research that contrasts this idea with other experiences in order to reflect on, elaborate on, and improve the quality of these educational practices.

For all the above reasons, and despite the lack of previous studies based on the current situation in Italian higher education, the following study is crucial in analyzing the current situation concerning the educational and social inclusion of disabled students, from the perspective of students from the University of Bologna, in order to gain insight into this issue within the European Higher Education Area to promote the inclusive process demanded by government agencies.

The obtained results as a whole produced an overall average value of 2.72 (close to the “agree” value), indicating a considerable level of acceptance among university students, with a moderate variation range (SD: .77).

Item 23 is worth noting, given that 94.4% of those surveyed state that they either agree or strongly agree that the presence of disabled students does not impede the overall academic level (M: 3.42; SD: .59).

According to the results of item 6, 90.2% of those surveyed agree or strongly agree that the presence of disabled students does not hinder their own learning process (M: 3.33; SD: .69).

A similar trend is observed with regard to item 17, where 84.7% of those surveyed agreed that the presence of disabled students within the classroom environment does not cause any problems or difficulties (M: 3.22; SD: .73).

Another interesting finding is observed in item 5, where 88.9% of students express their interest in wanting to interact with disabled students, were this interaction to be beneficial to disabled students (M: 3.27; SD: .69).

Contrary to the positive results regarding the inclusion of disabled students within higher education environments, 83.3% of surveyed students feel that their disabled classmates face more difficulties in successfully completing their studies at the University of Bologna due to limited adapted resources (item 3; M: 1.80; SD: .78).

Similarly, and according to item 35, only 36.1% of students either agree or strongly agree that course curricula comprise sufficient credit hours to train teachers on how to give appropriate attention to disabled students within academic settings (M: 2.20; SD: .76). It is also worth noting that 58.2% of students feel as if they are not informed of the presence of disabled classmates in their classrooms beforehand (item 12; M: 2.23; SD: .88).

Lastly, by taking into account standard deviation measures, item 1 (“University access is provided to disabled students”) and item 21 (“The presence of disabled students within the classroom environment is beneficial to all students”) stand out in terms of the low standard deviations (SD: .56 and .68, respectively), and the majority of those surveyed agreed with these statements.

The following analysis is given based on the category group of each item, as outlined above. These category groups relate to various aspects concerning disabled students attending universities (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Academic modifications. For this category, the overall average numeric value is 2.59 (SD: .77), which comes close to the numeric value of “agree.” Regarding the items referred to as “modifications”, item 1 has an overall higher average, with 84.8% of students agreeing that disabled students are provided with access to universities.

Consistent with this result is the fact that 76.4% of those surveyed feel that disabled students have the same opportunities and possibilities to progress as do the rest of students (item 24). Furthermore, 87.5% believe that the level of studies and degrees obtained by disabled students imply overall competence with regard to their professional development (item 26). Nonetheless, when those surveyed were asked whether or not disabled students faced more difficulties in finishing their academic studies due to a lack of resources that adequately met their needs, interestingly, 83.3% indeed agreed with this statement (item 3).

Acceptance. With regard to the category labeled “acceptance”, which was understood to be one of the basic prerequisites for the inclusion of disabled students at university level, the overall average was 3.14 (SD: .71), which corresponds to the numeric value of the response “agree.” With regard to all of the items constituting this category as a whole, items 23 and 6 in particular stand out as exceeding the average numeric value (M: 3.41 and 3.33; SD: .59 and .69, respectively). Furthermore, 94.4% of students claim that the presence of disabled students does not negatively impact the overall academic level (item 23). In the same vein, 90.2% feel that their presence does not cause any type of obstacle to student learning (item 6).

It is important to note that item 29 was the least positively valued of all items, and only 77.8% consider that there is indeed adequate communication between disabled students and their classmates. This communication is essential in supporting the overall inclusion of disabled students at university level. In addition, 62.5% of students believe that they do not have any problems or difficulties interacting with disabled students (item 4).

Overall level of training of university staff members. In this category, the average numeric value was 2.55 (SD: .82), and item 8 was the most notable item in terms of overall average. All in all, 77.8% of students believe that positive activities geared toward disabled students and their inclusion within the university are indeed promoted. Furthermore, 79.1% of students feel that basic training and education encompasses special attention geared toward disabled students (item 37), and 73.6% report that awareness within the school environment regarding services tailored to disabled students’ needs is indeed promoted. Despite this, only 23.6% of students claim to have received some type of training encouraging the inclusion of disabled students within their university (item 10).

University services. Lastly, with regard to the category entitled “University Services”, the overall numeric average was 2.68 (SD: .77), which comes close to the numeric value of the “agree” option. Item 31 is of substantial value, in that 76.4% of those surveyed declare that regulations dealing with the rights and responsibilities of disabled students are fully met. Furthermore, 73.6% of students believe that adequate resources do indeed exist to facilitate the active integration of disabled students within the university setting (item 14). Nevertheless, according to 43.1% of students, there is no specific type of regulation concerning the attention given to disabled students at the University of Bologna (item 18). There is also a lack of adequate resources with regard to the development of access to academic curricula that have been tailored to the needs of disabled students (item 19).

The following section reveals the most pertinent results obtained from the comparative analysis addressing these aspects with respect to the following variables: gender, experience regarding the inclusion of disabled students in universities, and age group (see Table 2).

Table 2

Category	Gender		Age			Previous experiencea			Previous informationb
	Male	Female	<= 21	22-26	27-41	No	Yes	No	Yes
Academic modifications	2.77	2.32	2.65	2.62	2.63	2.65	2.57	2.66	2.38
Acceptance	2.97	3.18	3.14	3.21	3.28	3.19	3.06	3.17	3.15
Overall level of training of university staff members	2.34	2.56	2.54	2.65	2.39	2.57	2.43	2.55	2.47
University services	2.36	2.71	2.66	2.75	2.73	2.69	2.65	2.70	2.47

Nota: ^aPrevious experience with disabled classmates. ^bPrevious information regarding disabled students.

By comparing all of the obtained numeric averages, and by taking into consideration all of the categories regarding the educational and social inclusion of disabled students as a whole, the category entitled “Acceptance” was the most favored category, especially among female students and older students. By contrast, least valued was the category relating to the training received by the university community and personnel regarding the inclusion of disabled students, especially among male students and students between the ages of 19 and 21.

In order to elaborate upon the comparative analysis of the opinions and attitudes of students based on the aforementioned variables, and keeping in mind that this study does not follow parametric assumptions (normality, homoscedasticity…), nonparametric statistics were utilized based on the Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The following results were most pertinent.

With regard to the relationship between gender and the opinions and attitudes regarding university-level inclusion of disabled students, female opinions were generally more positive with regard to the statements included in the following items of the questionnaire (p < .05, Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples):

Item 22: Economic efforts are increased with regard to support provided to disabled students (.02).

According to the results, students who have received some type of information from the University of Bologna with regard to the presence of disabled students, express a significant level of disapproval toward the following statements (p <.05, Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples):

Item 25: University tests and exams provide the necessary resources and modifications required to satisfy the needs of disabled students (.03).

An analysis of data distribution by age group shows that those between the ages of 22 and 26 are particularly noteworthy in item 7 (“The objectives and content are identical - or the same - for all students”) and item 19 (“The university is equipped with the necessary tools to address any type of modification that may need to be implemented in order to facilitate access to academic curricula for disabled students”) (.05 and .01, respectively; Kruskal-Wallis test).

Moreover, the older age group (comprising students between the ages of 27 and 41) stands out in item 21 (“The university is equipped with the necessary tools to address any type of modification that may need to be implemented in order to facilitate access to academic curricula for disabled students”) (.01; Kruskal-Wallis test).

Lastly, and taking into consideration the variable regarding whether or not students have had classmates with disabilities, it has been found that there are differences among students concerning the opinions and attitudes held toward the inclusion of disabled university students. In this regard, students who have peers with disabilities express a significant level of disagreement with the following statements (p <.05, Kruskal-Wallis test):

Item 17: The presence of students with disabilities in the classroom poses problems and difficulties (.04).