Abstract
This study interrogates how Educational Technology (EdTech) configures the leadership experiences of students with disabilities (SwD) in higher education. It asks: (i) how SwD engage EdTech to enact leadership agency, and (ii) how digital systems and institutional structures can be redesigned to enable leadership skill development through participation in student activities and governance. Anchored in Psychological Empowerment Theory (Spreitzer, 1995), empowerment is operationalized via meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. Using in-depth multistakeholder interviews in a case study methodology at a management school in India, the study traces affordances and participation pathways. Findings show EdTech expands access, yet empowerment remains heterogeneous: autonomy, visibility, and collaboration are prized, while digital governance spaces exhibit inclusion deficits. Leadership aspirations are high, but sociotechnical enablers are unevenly distributed. Contributing through the novel LEAD-ABLE framework, the study calls for an ontological and praxis shift: augmenting EdTech for promoting agency and empowerment, not merely for access.