EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION IN OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) have become central to educational discourse, particularly within the context of open and distance education (ODE), where digital environments demand inclusive and equitable approaches. Despite increased scholarly attention, research on EDI in ODE remains uneven, with limited interdisciplinary integration and geographic representation. This study addresses these gaps through a bibliometric mapping analysis of 1,013 publications indexed in Web of Science and Scopus between 2015 and 2025. Using the Biblioshiny interface of the Bibliometrix package in R, the study systematically identifies key contributors, influential publications, core research domains, and emerging trends in EDI research within ODE. Findings reveal a significant rise in EDI-related research since 2020, driven by the global shift to digital learning. However, four critical gaps persist: a research bias toward learners, with limited attention to educators’ roles in inclusive pedagogy; minimal integration of ethical technologies, including artificial intelligence and emotion-aware tools, into EDI frameworks; a geographic imbalance favoring high-income countries, with limited representation from the Global South; and a predominance of descriptive and correlational methodologies, which limits causal inference. This review contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive overview of the field and offering practical and theoretical directions for developing inclusive and equitable digital education systems.