The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify student perceptions and experiences of what was required to successfully transition and succeed in college. The researcher used focus group interviews to collect data from college students with and without disabilities. Participating students came from 6 universities, both in and outside of Ohio.
The two research questions answered in this study were: (1) How do students with disabilities and students without disabilities define success in college and barriers to success based on responses to focus group questions? and (2) Did students participating in the current research identify the same themes, categories, and subcategories that were identified in the original research (Webster, 2001, 2004)?
A total of 20 students with (12), and without (8), documented disabilities participated in the focus group interviews. Sixteen focus group questions were used in the interviews with topics that included: Transition into College, Supports and Services, College Experiences, and Personal Attributes.
RQ1: Overall responses to specific focus questions were similar for students with and without disabilities. Categories generated by both groups were consistent with factors discussed in the literature regarding success in college.
RQ2: Results showed that subcategories generated were generally similar to Webster’s taxonomy (61%); categories generated were very similar (88%); and themes generated were the same (100%).
The similarities in participants’ college experiences described by the awareness of themselves and the awareness of others indicated that all college students, in the current research and Webster’s study, identified similar indicators for achieving college success.