Melissa Abrahams

Melissa Abrahams is a Masters student whose research explores the significance of technology in the learning experience of students with disabilities in South African Higher education. Her work is grounded in a deep commitment to inclusive and equitable education for all, particularly for those in marginalised groups who continue to face structural barriers to meaningful academic participation. Her research interrogates the gap between progressive disability policy and the lived experience of students navigating digital learning environments. She is particularly interested in how institutional culture, access to assistive technology, and the digital divide shape what students with disabilities are able to do and be within the higher education institution.

Her research is a necessary contribution of a Global South voice to a conversation which is largely dominated by Global North perspectives concerning the advancement of knowledge on technology, disability and inclusive education, in a context where this remains underexplored. This speaks directly to the realisation of SDG 4 as an urgent and unfinished imperative for post-Apartheid South Africa.