Differences in Marginality Between Nursing Students With and Without Disabilities.

Background: Barriers exist in nursing education for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities often experience associated stigma and a perceived lack of support by nursing faculty and academic leaders.

Method: A nonexperimental descriptive design was used to examine differences in perceived marginality between nursing students with and without disabilities ( = 7,399) in the United States.

Results: Participants who identified as having a disability described more marginalization ( = 45.9, = 10.5) than participants who did not identify as having a disability ( = 38.3, = 9.2), t(927) = 19.4, < .001.

Conclusion: Findings suggest marginalization exists for students with disabilities. Academic leaders and faculty should address systems, structures, and polices that potentially pose barriers to self-reporting, matriculation, and progression of students with disabilities. .