Peculiarities of Training Engineering Students with Disabilities

In this day and age, there are increasing discussions and calls for shifting towards inclusive education. In view of this, the present study intended to identify the most severe challenges disabled engineering students face according to their own view and find possible ways to solve them. For this particular aim, a survey of 555 students from five universities of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan was performed. These were the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Northern Trans-Ural State Agricultural University, Sarsen Amanzholov East Kazakhstan State University, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers, and South Ural State University. The survey was carried out in two stages. The first focused on identifying the main problems of disabled students (physical environment, staff skills and knowledge, theory-practice relationship, assessment peculiarities, and bias). The second intended to define the most critical of them (unadapted physical environment and reduced abilities to apply theoretical knowledge in practice). To resolve these issues, the authors propose the following recommendations to be adopted. These include adapted laboratories and equipment; programs that allow performing practical tasks; engineering tutors able to assist in performing practical tasks; an adapted assessment system with reference to health condition; psychological support to integrate disabled students into an inclusive team and eliminate prejudices. The obtained research 148 http://www.i-jep.org Paper—Peculiarities of Training Engineering Students with Disabilities findings can be used by other universities to promote a comprehensive integration of students with special needs into the educational process. Keywords—Disabled students; engineering education; engineering students with disabilities; students with special needs

the best ways to further improve the conditions of inclusive higher engineering education.
These challenges refer not only to engineering but also to any other field. In this regard, the objectives of this study were formed as follows: • Find out what difficulties people with disabilities may have in obtaining an engineering education • Determine the most common challenges • Suggest possible solutions.
The introduction contains the background of the research, its goals and problems, the formulation of the research question and research objectives, as well as a brief literature review. Methods section describes in detail the methodology of conducting two surveys. Results contain descriptive statistics and recommendations. Discussion provides the links between the findings and similar studies.

Research design and participants
Provided the nature of the goals set, it was decided to collect information by surveying university students. The research uses a qualitative research methodology. The survey method was supposed to allow considering the problem under study from the point of the direct recipients of engineering education. Besides, interviewing students majoring in engineering and analyzing their attitude to the issue made it possible to understand the attitude towards engineering students with disabilities. The survey addressed bachelor's and master's degree students from five universities, three of which are in Russia, one in Kazakhstan, and one in Uzbekistan. Research sample comprised a total of 555 people aged from 18 to 25 (215 women and 340 men).

Participant's selection criterion
The study year had no statistical significance for the research. Therefore, the examination involved both undergraduate and graduate students. Since the study focused on engineering students' health impairments, it enrolled only those majoring in engineering or undergoing training under the programs close to this field. Such training programs included Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Applied Mathematics and Informatics; Technologies, Mechanization and Power Equipment of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Technosphere Safety; Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy; Agricultural Mechanization; Descriptive Geometry and Engineering Graphics; Theoretical and Construction Mechanics; Mathematics and Mechanics.

Research tools
To determine the possible difficulties that students with disabilities may face, research participants were asked to freely answer the question: "In your opinion, what difficulties may arise for students with reduced capabilities receiving an engineering education?" The survey was conducted remotely using the Google Forms service. Each student enrolled was sent a link with instructions and a response form. For more representative results, respondents were explained that students with disabilities in this case meant not only individuals with physical limitations but also with mental health issues (for example, those having an autism spectrum disorder) and hearing and visually impaired.
After the lexical and semantic analysis of the survey answers, five categories of the most significant difficulties of disabled students were identified. This list of categories was further used to create a Likert scale in the next step of the study.
At the next stage, respondents were given a list of selected categories, which they were asked to distribute from the most to the least critical (see Table 2). This approach enabled concluding on what problems, according to the research participants themselves, are most acute for disabled engineering students. In fact, survey participants were asked to rate 5 categories on a Likert scale, each of which represents one of the most common problems for engineering students with disabilities. Each of the categories offers an assessment of 1 to 5 points according to the degree of influence of this category on the student's academic performance, emotional background and general life activity according to his/her subjective opinion (where "1" -"affects least of all", "5" -"affects most strongly"). At the same time, the respondents were asked to build the categories according to the ranks, so that the assessments of any two categories did not coincide.

Research issues and limitations
One of the main limitations of this study is its focus exclusively on those studying in universities. This does not allow making any judgments on possible difficulties of impaired college students. That is why a number of challenges identified within the present work, as well as their recommended solutions, are applicable only to the considered group of respondents.
One of the important limitations of the study is that there was no division of students into separate categories according to the types of disability; thus, the study cannot be representative of individual groups of disorders. Such an analysis remains a topic for further research.
Future research in this field can be more widespread. For instance, it can be conducted across much more countries to assess the world views on the matter under study or include representatives of other technical specialties, schoolchildren, or even higher education representatives in general.

Data analysis
All responses received through Google Forms were taken into account and analyzed. The most common answer options were identified and grouped into categories, each of which was given a detailed explanation for better understanding.
Thus, two groups of answers were analyzed: 1. Free-form assessments of the main obstacles to learning for students with disabilities, grouped into five main categories of obstacles. This group of responses provided an opportunity for a deeper understanding of specific needs and specific details of the problems. This group, due to the free form of answers, is not subject to statistical description and has the form of a qualitative study. 2. Answers on the Likert scale with an assessment of the degree of influence of certain types of obstacles and the degree of criticality of each of them. This group is further represented by an analysis of descriptive statistics. The Results section is followed by an analysis of the first group of responses, then the second, which includes descriptive statistics.

Ethical issues
Research participation was entirely voluntary. Before surveying started, letters of invitation were sent to the relevant departments of universities to inform potential respondents about the possibility for everyone wanting to be enrolled. Not less important is that the study was conducted anonymously. The surveys submitted in Google Forms had no fields for entering personal data. After receiving the link to the survey, students filled out and submitted forms, which were automatically processed by the service.

Results
The analysis of responses allowed distinguishing five categories of challenges that disabled engineering students run into during university training. Each of them is considered in detail below.

Physical environment
Answers in one way or another related to the physical environment were the most frequent. In this case, the physical environment refers to the equipment of universities provided for students with health limitations. Many respondents noted a lack of such elements as ramps or elevators that can accommodate wheelchair accessibility. Apart from this, research participants mentioned that laboratories are usually not adapted for people with special needs.

Staff skills and knowledge
Another common option was inadequate staff preparation for work with such students. Sometimes, impaired individuals may need additional support from the teaching personnel. When it comes to engineering and scientific specialties, such support becomes much more important due to the environment's unsuitability. That is why educators should be appropriately trained and ready to react to non-standard situations arising in the learning process. The training of assistant tutors can include both additional on-the-job training of teachers and previously trained colleagues.

Theory-practice relationship
When obtaining a technical education, it is crucial not to study the theory alone but also to be able to apply this knowledge in practice. For students with disabilities, this can cause difficulties in studying and later in finding a job. They will possess insufficient skills in applying theoretical knowledge and may not fully understand how to work with some equipment or act in a certain situation.

Assessment features
Students may confront this problem when it comes to completing any projects or assignments with specific criteria. For example, a person with cerebral palsy may find it more challenging to work with drawings than one without physical disorders.

Biased attitude
Issues related to prejudice against students with special needs can rather be attributed to the post-training period. Respondents tend to assert that in the professions related to the exact sciences, the employer may be more likely to prefer a healthy job seeker over someone who has physical or intellectual disabilities, even though they will both be equally competent specialists.
Despite the fact that the identification of the most often expressed matters of concern was possible already at the stage of answers' analysis and grouping, this observation was not statistically confirmed. For this reason, it was necessary to determine the ratio of the problems regarded as the most critical ( Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Most Common Problems of Disabled Engineering Students
A thorough analysis of survey outcomes confirmed assumptions made previously. The majority of respondents (31%) consider the unadapted physical environment to be the main obstacle for students with health limitations. The next in criticality was the impossibility for such students to put theoretical knowledge into practice adequately (22%). This result can be considered logical because it is the physical environment's imperfection that hinders active participation of disabled students in practical assignments. Votes on three remaining items were distributed almost equally. Though, this does not mean that the issues of staff unpreparedness, prejudice, and assessment are less sharp.
The authors of the present research believe that elimination of these problems is much easier than it could seem at a first glance. For this, the following recommendations are to be implemented.

3.6
Providing an accessible learning environment The problem of an accessible environment for people with disabilities is one of the most pressing in our society and education. In order for all students to have the opportunity to learn fully and use their knowledge in practice, educational institutions' administrative staff must take care of an environment that meets special needs of individuals with various disabilities. When it comes to engineering education, the solution is to build more inclusive laboratories and supply specialized equipment.

Education computerization
As already noted above, technical education is mostly applied in nature, which may cause some troubles for disabled people. Another way to resolve this issue can be the computerization of education. Not all students can work, for example, with real drawing tools. This difficulty can be easily leveled by developing a specialized computer program allowing creating drawings through real tools' simulation. Such software already exists and is being actively developed, which is discussed below. Work in these programs can be carried out without drawing away from the curriculum. After completing the corresponding module that requires practical work, some students perform it in the traditional way, and some (in this case, students with disabilities who find it difficult to work with conventional equipment)using special software. This will allow individuals with health impairments to practice without deviating from the general course syllabus.
In the meantime, such a decision necessitates technical capacities that differ across universities to be taken into account. A specialized software creation requires involving specialists (programmers, developers, etc.) able to design it suitable for both highperformance computers and older models. This can be achieved by writing a program with a minimal set of the most important functions, agreed by university teaching staff. At the same time, to reduce the load on the computer processor, separate programs for individual needs (for drawings, building 3D models, etc.) can be created. This decision will allow students to install only the necessary software, which will also reduce the program's requirements and, therefore, enable using it even on lowperformance computers. The introduction of such programs stipulates compulsory preliminary training of teaching staff for them to be able to explain their working principle and functions, as well as help if any difficulties or errors emerge. In the future, such practices can be expanded to the preparation of fully distance courses for disabled students.

Training engineering tutors
Tutors can also be involved to help students with reduced capabilities. Though, since engineering education is quite narrowly focused, training of engineering tutors in order to provide high-quality preparation is also critical. One of the options may be the training of laboratory assistants who will help students with disabilities in carrying out practical tasks and work in laboratories. If necessary, such a tutor can adjust the equipment, prepare the workplace in advance, and take part in the study process him/herself. Such assistance should be done under a student's guidance, as it is essential for a tutor only to support and not fulfill a student's duties. In a similar vein, a tutor can positively influence the disabled individual by providing psychological support when completing an internship or contacting potential employers at competitions and conferences.

Improved knowledge assessment system
If university authorities agree and no negative impact is predicted upon the preparation quality, a separate assessment system can be elaborated for disabled students. Wherever possible, this new system can take into consideration special needs of such people. It can also be expanded by developing separate assessment approaches for both students with physical and mental disorders.

Psychological support
With the aim of reducing potential negative experience, university-based psychology sessions can be organized. This will help the disabled deal with possible doubts and anxiety associated with their physical/mental condition and future profession. When conducting such meetings, it is important not to separate healthy individuals from students with disabilities to avoid health condition-related stigmatization. The sessions should be held in an inclusive format. As a basis, a round table model can be chosen where all participants are free to discuss possible obstacles for disabled people and suggest ways to solve them. It is reasonable to attract educators and develop joint projects, which can then be presented at the appropriate forums and competitions. A similar positive contribution will make the organization of open days with potential employers invited and psychologists' participation. This may assist in eliminating prejudices and forming a positive attitude towards future specialists with special needs.

Discussion
Inclusive education issues are being extensively studied in modern society. One of the top-discussed matters when considering the problems of students with health limitations is learning environment accessibility. For STEM careers, the issue of laboratory accessibility is reasonably represented as one of the sharpest [22]. Analysis of various scientific literature on disabled students' performance in science and engineering laboratories has revealed that many researchers [22,23] consider the lack of an adapted environment the key obstacle to practicing. It should be specially noted that although the problem of students with disabilities has existed for a long time and inclusive education at all levels has been developing for decades, the problem of an adequately adapted environment continues to be reported in modern empirical research around the world [16][17][18]21,22].
The barriers and necessary facilitators mentioned in the literature can be roughly grouped into the following three categories: 1. Learning environment of the laboratory, including interaction with others (e.g., student peers and laboratory instructors) 2. Physical built environment of the laboratory 3. Tasks to be performed in a laboratory space (e.g., setting up or using laboratory equipment or tools) [24].
The indicated sequence of problems in terms of importance strictly corresponds to the results of the survey in this study. This is due to the fact that the problems of psychological adaptation, collaboration and interaction with a teacher are easier to solve and do not require significant material costs from the administration [4,25]. Perhaps this is the main reason why the problems with adaptive environments for students with disabilities remain.
Multi-year research has shown that similar problems are to one degree or another inherent to Spain [26], Australia [22], the United States [27], and many other countries of the world. Researchers from all over the world provide numerous recommendations to help students with limited capabilities cope with possible obstacles when working in laboratories. They include the following: 1. Educators should individually collaborate with a student to identify methods contributing to full participation in laboratory activities (e.g., setting up the laboratory experiments); 2. Educators should assess critical laboratory activity functions and student's abilities [28]; 3. University support services (e.g., for people with special needs) should connect educators to programs or seminars that involve closer work with impaired students; 4. Educators should hire full-time laboratory assistants for students with disabilities; 5. Educators should modify or relocate equipment (e.g., extension cords); 6. University support services (e.g., career services) and faculty should support mentorship opportunities outside the laboratory [29].
The implementation of the above recommendations requires, first of all, the allocation of more time in the curriculum for a teacher to interact with students with disabilities; a teacher is to be trained the methods of such interaction. It is also required to do at least minimal re-equipment of laboratories and improve the quality of safety equipment, taking into account the needs of people with disabilities. Such minimal changes can be funded by government programs, which will allow universities to implement these programs more quickly.
Early training in the elements of robotic skills through special children's kits [30] and training people with disabilities from early childhood for the future of a technical or engineering profession using specialized mobile applications [31] will increase natural adaptation in the process of higher education [30]. A huge role is played by the early acquaintance of people with disabilities with software concepts and engi-neering-mathematical type of problem solving using well-known social applications [32].
One of the recommendations of the authors of this study is the virtualization of the part of the learning environment associated with laboratory exercises. Means for this in the form of software packages based on the STEM methodology exist and are being actively developed [33,34]. Many such projects set themselves the task of achieving complete substitution of real virtual experience and maintaining the quality and applicability of skills acquired in virtual activities in interaction with a real technical environment [35].
In addition to barriers in the learning environment, scholars also consider barriers after graduation. The study of Li [36] is of significant interest in this field since he highlights the problem of employment of the disabled as that of the utmost importance. To a certain degree, the present research is in line with his opinion as one of the problems outlined by study participants was employers' prejudice. Overcoming prejudice can be realized through early acquaintance with prospective graduates during their training on the part of an employer. An employer can be convinced of the quality of the training of students with disabilities and their personal qualities [12,27].
The main research results show that people with health impairments either do not receive the required education or claim that it is more academically oriented and not useful for professional practice. This subsequently negatively impacts employment opportunities. Researchers indicate that employers' concerns in this regard may be related to the fact that a student with a disability has not acquired the required professional skills [37].
Some solutions proposed to address the employment problem to some extent overlap with the current study. Collins et al. [4] propose to provide disabled students with a more detailed job description before employment. This would allow them to understand the requirements of each specific place and better meet them. Sometimes, students express particular concern about the negative attitude they might encounter during employment and therefore choose not to disclose their disability information. In turn, the employer's ability to provide the necessary equipment may be affected exactly by the individual's unwillingness to disclose information about some limitations [38]. In any event, Nolan et al. [25] rightfully note that the attitude of professionals towards disability should be discussed and further changed since, in most cases, disability does not have any effect on the employee's professional competence.
Another pressing issue is the qualification of educators working with impaired students. It was noted that taking professional development courses affects the knowledge, skills, and attitude of educators teaching students with special needs and learning disabilities. Stites et al. [39] indicate that such courses make instructors feel better equipped to use resources, develop and implement sound learning strategies, and generally act as advocates for the rights of disabled to education with equal opportunities in STEM areas. These conclusions are in line with the present study results, particularly with the developed recommendations, calling for the preparation of teachers specifically for working with special needs children.
Delaine et al. [9] claim that the inclusion of diverse people in the profession improves their work quality. While diversity and inclusiveness can be seen as a prereq-uisite for morality and fairness, engineering and business communities tend to regard it as an asset that enhances team creativity, makes solutions more workable, products more convenient, and citizens more aware of society's issues.
Despite numerous studies on the matter [40][41][42], people with disabilities are still underrepresented in STEM. Consolidation of inclusive education best practices used globally and optimization of research-based approaches may be an additional incentive for people with limitations to become more involved in engineering and make their professional contributions to the field's development.
Thus, following on from the research carried out and the literature reviewed, one can conclude that the global practice of inclusive engineering education is still at the stage of development and requires many challenges to be addressed. The universal difficulties typical for students with disabilities in the field of STEM include an unadapted working environment and prejudice. They make it difficult and sometimes even impossible to find a job.

Conclusion
Research results unveiled that engineering students with reduced capabilities may face some difficulties in obtaining an education and in subsequent employment. Such conclusions were obtained as a consequence of a two-stage survey among 555 university students (bachelors and masters) from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The survey involved individuals majoring in engineering or similar specialties. In total, five categories were identified according to the results of a survey with a free form of answers: physical environment, staff skills and knowledge, theory-practice relationship, assessment peculiarities, and bias. Meanwhile, the most acute problems were an ill-fitted physical environment and reduced abilities to practice, which was confirmed by the survey conducted in both forms (in free answers and on the Likert scale).
In response to the challenges highlighted, research authors proposed several possible ways to tackle them. It is necessary to provide an accessible environment for students with disabilities, for instance, by making specialized laboratory equipment available and adapted to their needs. It is possible to promote the computerization of education by transferring some of the practical tasks from the real world to the virtual, as well as combine traditional classes with web-based ones. It is essential to arrange corresponding instruction courses for educators and develop the assessment system. It can be elaborated and further applied exclusively for disabled students with reference to their mental or physical characteristics to assure fair knowledge evaluation. Collaboration during the so-called career fairs may help reduce bias and form a positive attitude towards future specialists with disabilities.
The results of this article can be used by other universities across Russia and other countries to conduct their own further research on the problems of engineering students with special needs. The research findings can facilitate decisions about the direction of funding or the direction of efforts to change the learning environment and curriculum. Further research can be conducted in colleges, as well as among students of other majors.