Addressing Equity and Providing Transition Education to a Diverse Student Population

Transition services are designed to improve secondary and postsecondary outcomes for young adults with disabilities. Transition services also provide an opportunity to address inequity that disproportionately impacts people with disabilities who have also experienced marginalization through structural inequity and sociopolitical biases. While the field of transition research has made progress in identifying evidence-based interventions, we provide examples of troubling outcomes indicating that interventions have not been effective for all students across diverse backgrounds who face specific and marginalizing affronts to a fulfilling adulthood. The chapter focuses on the continued need to understand the complexities of diversity and equity through research that includes people with disabilities and their families across racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The terms "diversity" and "equity" in the context of transition are clarified, and we use a transition framework for research from the field to highlight the interconnectedness of the individual with a disability, cultures of practice, and societal factors impacting transition. Implications for research- and evidence-based transition practices that have the potential to promote equity in processes and outcomes are discussed. We end by calling for the need to maximize diverse learners' self-advocacy and participation in achieving equity in education.