Abstract
The aim of the article is to discuss the relationship between disability, educational level and employment, and to scrutinize how disability and education interact to impact employment – a link that has been observed in several studies. The article uses analyses of EU-SILC data to illustrate that conclusions about whether higher education reduces labour-market inequalities between disabled and non-disabled, depends in part on the analytical strategies used, which in turn are guided by implicit or explicit theoretical assumptions about the mechanisms regulating the relationship between education and employment opportunities. The article argues that the issue is more multifaceted than recognised by Nordic disability policy, which claims that higher education is the route to reducing inequalities and enhancing societal inclusion for disabled people.
Highlights
Participation in the labour market through employment is regarded as one of the cornerstones of active citizenship for disabled people (Sainsbury and Coleman-Fountain 2013)
In the preceding analysis we have studied the relationship between disability, educational level and employment rate, and in particular addressed the thesis that the effect of education on employment is twice as high for disabled people as for non-disabled people
The analysis has shown that choices that might seem trivial from a methodological point of view may have substantial consequences for the interpretations and conclusions about the relationship between disability, education and labour market participation
Summary
Participation in the labour market through employment is regarded as one of the cornerstones of active citizenship for disabled people (Sainsbury and Coleman-Fountain 2013). Research has shown that education is the most important predictor of employment for disabled people, but has found a statistical interaction in the relationship between disability, education and work propensity: educational level is substantially more important for the employment rate for disabled people than for non-disabled people. This effect is often found to be around twice as high for disabled compared to non-disabled (e.g. Kittelsaa et al 2015; Tøssebro and Wik 2015), estimates in different studies vary from 11 per cent (e.g. Bø and Håland 2015) to over 200 per cent higher (e.g. Bliksvær and Hanssen 2006)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
