Disability Employment Research Articles

Help coordinate employment assistance and support for students with disabilities

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and throughout the month, many disability services offices have highlighted employment for those with disabilities. But why not maintain these activities? In conjunction with your institution's career services and related offices, you can continue the emphasis on targeted employment skills and available assistance for students with disabilities.

Factors Affecting Disability Employment Opportunities in the Labor Market in West Sumatra

People with disabilities frequently encounter discrimination, particularly in gaining employment, despite having the same rights, roles, and responsibilities as the general population. This study examines the factors affecting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities in West Sumatra in 2022, using data from SAKERNAS 2022. The analysis focuses on variables such as gender, age, marital status, education, and residential classification. The research utilizes logistic regression analysis to explore these factors. The results reveal that age has a positive influence on employment opportunities, whereas gender, marital status, education, and residential classification have significant negative effects on the employment prospects of individuals with disabilities in West Sumatra.

Embedding work coaches in GP practices: Findings from an interview-based study in the UK

BackgroundThe integration of work coaches (WCs) and disability employment advisors (DEAs) into General Practitioner (GP) practices in the UK aims to address the interplay between health and employment by facilitating access to employment support, especially to people with disabilities and health conditions affecting their ability to work. This study seeks to explore the perspectives and perceptions of WCs, DEAs and GPs regarding the benefits and challenges of embedding WCs and DEAs in GP practices. MethodsData was collected between May and July 2023 through semi-structured interviews with four GPs, four WCs and four DEAs working in NHS GP practices. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed using the Thematic Framework method. Emergent themes were pre-structured and classified as perceived benefits, barriers and challenges or drivers and strategies. ResultsThe integration of WCs & DEAs within GP practices was perceived by respondents as fostering a direct collaboration between professionals as well as a greater openness of patients which benefited patients, WCs/DEAs and GPs. While all respondents emphasised the various benefits, they also identified several barriers and challenges. The implementation stage was perceived as particularly challenging, especially by WCs and DEAs, whereas the lack of human, financial and logistical resources hindered the service beyond this stage. Several strategies and drivers to support the service were identified, including the importance of receiving support from all professionals involved as well as making the service visible to both healthcare professionals and patients. ConclusionEmbedding WCs and DEAs in GP practices emerges as a promising approach which can benefit patients, GPs and WCs/DEAs. Exploring patients' perspectives directly is crucial to fully assess this type of service and identify any additional challenges and benefits.

Updated trends in disability, diversity, and corporate social responsibility

BACKGROUND: Disability holds a unique position in employment, including corporate social responsibility (CSR) and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Furthermore, contextual shifts in employment, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, make it critical to explore how disability is considered within company strategies. OBJECTIVE: Authors reviewed 2020/2021 CSR reports to observe organizational disability inclusion practices and shifts in company approaches to workplace and community initiatives. This analysis helps illuminate what disability inclusion strategies businesses publicize and prioritize, contributing to the growing knowledge of disability inclusion. METHODS: Building from a previous analysis completed in 2018 (Gould et al., 2020), the current review involved content analysis of 129 CSR reports from companies recognized for their disability inclusion efforts. RESULTS: Results showed a substantial increase in organizations that participated in disability inclusion activities and illuminated potential contextual changes. Additional findings highlight primary disability inclusion strategies as well as emerging practices. CONCLUSION: Although there is an increasing interest in including disability within business efforts, there continues to be distinct challenges to advancing disability inclusion overall. By providing insights into disability inclusion approaches, the current study sets a foundation for future research to explore the efficacy and long-term impacts of inclusive practices to enhance disability employment outcomes.

The employment effects of the disability education gap in Europe

ABSTRACT We investigate the contribution of the disability education gap to the disability employment gap in the European Union. We find that educational attainment is a major factor determining the probability of employment among persons with disabilities and that the employment effects of tertiary education are much larger among persons with disabilities than among non-disabled people. We also uncover substantial heterogeneity in the role of education across countries. Overall, we estimate that 19% of the disability employment gap in the 25–34 age group can be attributed to the gap in education between individuals with and without disabilities.

How Work Becomes Invisible: The Erosion of the Wage Floor for Workers with Disabilities

How does work come to be constructed as a service to the worker? In the United States, the payment of subminimum wages to disabled workers has been legal since 1938 and was entrenched by 1986 legislation eliminating the previously mandated floor of 50 percent of the minimum wage. This article draws on primary historical materials to explain the passage of these amendments, which I analyze as a case of delaborization, a process through which work is mystified as such and reclassified as something else (e.g., service). I find that the managers of segregated workshops for disabled manual laborers rose to control disability employment policy in the aftermath of deinstitutionalization. Professionals mobilized disability stigma to frame the subminimum wage as a social welfare issue subject to their expertise and to lobby successfully for its entrenchment. Weaknesses in the disability–labor coalition enabled this seizure of jurisdiction. This research illuminates professional expertise, the withdrawal of labor unions, and identity-based stigma as major mechanisms driving delaborization, an important contemporary influence on the organization of work. The case of the subminimum wage thus develops sociological literatures on labor, disability, and politics.

Factors Related to Employment of Transition-Age Youth With Intellectual Disability

This study examined the relationship between demographic factors and disability type and employment in transition-age individuals with intellectual disabilities who received state vocational rehabilitation services. The study conducted a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of the Rehabilitation Services Administration 911 dataset with an inclusion sample of 39,060 youth. Results indicated that race, ethnicity, gender, education level, and disability type correlated with employment. Specifically, individuals of transition age who were Black, Hispanic, female, had an intellectual disability, and had not completed high school were less likely to be employed than their counterparts who were White, non-Hispanic, male, had a disability other than intellectual disability, and had completed at least high school. These findings were consistent with the previous research. The authors posited that such research going forward would benefit from more studies utilizing primary data collection, mixed-methods designs, more discernment among modifiable and nonmodifiable demographic factors, and using an intersectionality lens to understand the cumulative effect of factors associated with disadvantage or marginalization (i.e., race and ethnicity) on employment in this population.

Unlocking Opportunities in Closing Disability Employment Gaps

Unlocking Opportunities in Closing Disability Employment Gaps

Technology empowerment in disability employment: a bibliometric and systematic review

PurposeWe examined the role of technology in employment and work for people with disabilities (PWD). We intended to identify publication trends, key terms, research areas and potential gaps in the topic.Design/methodology/approachWe scrutinized relevant articles from two major databases through bibliometric and systematic review analyses. The bibliometric data involved 256 articles analysed through the VOSviewer software to produce publication trends and network maps. We then scanned article abstracts and selected 114 articles for thematic analysis using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline.FindingsThe findings revealed a dominance of authors from Western and European countries, particularly the United States of America. Three themes emerged as the crucial factors shaping technology utilization for PWD employment and workplace inclusion. These were identified as individual, environmental and societal, which shed light on the multifaceted influences surrounding PWD’s technology empowerment.Originality/valueThe hybrid review approach enables a thorough examination of the published work. Our study proposes a conceptual model for PWD employment and workplace inclusion. Founded on the theories of Work Adjustment, Human–Computer Interaction and the Social Model of Disability. The model provides a clear visualization to guide further research and relevant initiatives in this area.

Fortune 500 companies and employment of people with disabilities: The intermediary role of disability inclusion policies and practices

BACKGROUND: Employing qualified individuals with disabilities can improve organizational competitiveness and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. However, research on disability inclusion policy and practices among employers committed to hiring people with disabilities is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate efforts of Fortune 500 companies to include disability in their DEI policy and examine the effect of disability inclusion policy and practices on employment of people with disabilities METHODS: Four hundred sixty-six human resource and project managers with hiring authority participated in the present study. The Disability Inclusion Profiler-23 (DIP-23) was used to assess the perceived importance and implementation level of disability inclusion policy and practices in Fortune 500 and non-Fortune 500 companies. Two-sample independent t-tests were used to compare disability-employment rates and disability inclusion scores between Fortune 500 and non-Fortune 500 groups. Parallel mediation analysis was conducted to examine the extent to which executive level and mid-manager level DIP scores mediated the relationship between Fortune 500 companies and disability employment rates. RESULTS: Fortune 500 companies demonstrated higher disability employment rates and better disability inclusion policies and practices compared to non-Fortune 500 companies. CONCLUSION: State vocational rehabilitation agencies and other disability service providers should engage Fortune 500 executives to bolster disability inclusion efforts. Collaboration between vocational rehabilitation professionals and mid-level managers can enhance DIP policy implementation, thereby improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Disability employment and work outcomes: The roles of hospitality job position and emotion

Disability employment has an impact on the emotions and work perception of hotel employees. This study examined their perceptions and understanding toward disability employment by comparing the varied perceptions on different work levels. It further analyzed employee perception of disability employment on organizational commitment and job satisfaction and the mediating role of emotions. A field study was conducted with 142 participants who worked in international hotels in Hong Kong. The results revealed that employee perception toward disability employment partially differs among various hotel work-level positions, and is partially related to their organizational commitment and overall job satisfaction through four specific emotions.

Quantifying Employment Barriers for People with Disabilities: A Statistical Investigation into Inclusivity Challenges

This study aimed to investigate the types and frequency of employment barriers experienced by individuals with disabilities in Daet, Camarines Norte. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire employing a 4-point Likert scale, employing a descriptive and mixed-method approach. Statistical analysis included percentage technique, weighted mean, and multiple response analysis. The study involved fifty (50) employed and unemployed individuals with disabilities, selected through purposive and quota sampling. Findings indicated several prevalent employment barriers, including insufficient technological support, social exclusion due to physical impairments, inadequate facility modifications for accessibility, relegation to menial tasks, lack of employer awareness regarding disability employment laws, and managerial awareness of equal opportunity concepts without corresponding motivation for action.

Prognostic factors for long-term improvement in pain and disability among patients with persistent low back pain

BackgroundPrognostic research in low back pain (LBP) is essential for understanding and managing the condition. This study aimed to, (1) describe the proportions with mild-moderate and severe pain and disability at baseline, 1-year and 4-year follow-up, and (2) investigate prognostic factors for improvement in pain and disability over 4 years in a cohort of secondary care LBP patients.MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of a cohort of patients with LBP aged 18–40 years recruited from a non-surgical outpatient spine clinic between March 2011 and October 2013 (n = 1037). Questionnaires were collected at baseline, 1-year, and 4-year follow-up. Disability was assessed using the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ 0-100) and pain intensity using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS 0–10). ’Mild-moderate pain’ was defined as NRS < 7 and ’severe pain’ as NRS ≥ 7. Likewise, ’mild-moderate disability’ was defined as RMDQ < 58.3, and ’severe disability’ was RMDQ ≥ 58.3. In the prognostic analysis, improvement in pain and disability over 4 years was defined as meeting both criteria: decrease of ≥ 2 on the NRS and of ≥ 20.8 on the RMDQ. Sixteen candidate prognostic factors were assessed by multivariate logistic regression.ResultsAmong patients with information available at all three time points (n = 241), 54%/48% had persistent mild-moderate pain/disability, while only 7%/15% had persistent severe pain/disability. Of patients included in the multivariate prognostic analysis regarding improvement over 4 years (n = 498), 32% had improved in pain and disability after 4 years. Positive associations were found for pain intensity (OR 1.34 [95%CI: 1.17–1.54]), disability (OR 1.01 [1.00-1.02]), and regular employment or studying (OR 1.67 [1.06–2.64]), and negative associations for episode duration (OR 0.99 [0.99-1.00]) and risk of persistent pain (OR 0.58 [0.38–0.88]).ConclusionPatients with persistent LBP in secondary care had mostly mild-moderate pain and disability consistently at all three time points, with few having consistently severe symptoms over 4 years. Moreover, approximately half of the included patients improved in pain and disability. We found that pain intensity, disability, episode duration, regular employment or studying, and risk of persistent pain predicted a long-term improvement. However, the limited availability of complete follow-up data may affect generalisability.

‘Identity as work’: Water‐army and disability employment in digital China

‘Identity as work’: Water‐army and disability employment in digital China

Introduction toSpecial Issue: The New Frontier of Disability Employment on the 50th Anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act.

Introduction toSpecial Issue: The New Frontier of Disability Employment on the 50th Anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act.

The Making of a Reserve Army of Labor: Paradoxes of American Disability Policy

Since the 1980s, despite much United States legislation to promote the employment of people with disabilities and reduce their reliance on government benefits, employment rates among people with disabilities have fallen while rates of disability benefits receipt have risen. I conducted historical research on two sites of contradiction in the state treatment of disability: (1) antidiscrimination legislation and (2) disability benefits. I show that the goals of antidiscrimination legislation were undercut by court interpretations of this legislation, while cyclical expansion and contraction of disability benefits produced haphazard integration of recipients into the labor force and inhibited cessation of benefits. These findings demonstrate that the legislative push for the labor market inclusion of disabled people, undertaken simultaneous to ongoing labor market exclusion with roots in the very same legislative program, led to the incorporation of disabled people into the labor market on contingent terms. Contradictions in disability employment policy have thus constituted people with disabilities as a labor force suited to the precarious positions characteristic of economic restructuring. This argument develops Marxist theories of disability, conceptualizing disabled people as a reserve army of labor malleable to the needs of capital.

Employers Perspective Towards People with Disability Using Disability Confidence Framework Study Case: Contact Center at Sparkling Indonesia &amp; Bank Masa Depan

Issues towards diversity, equity, and inclusion currently become a main focus and big agenda both for government and corporate. One of the inclusion strategy encouraged by employers in corporate world is the inclusion towards people with disability at the workplace. The current problem, many employers lack of disability confidence knowledge, means that how the employers enhancing their understanding about people with disability, removing all barriers, and created a strong business case for hiring people with disability and deliver a significant impact at the workplace. Therefore, an exploratory study required to be conducted with the scope of two companies who has world-class contact center and also become a pioneer or role model in terms of their lead towards disability employment in contact center industry. In collecting the data, this study conducted semi structured in depth interviews with ten informant as the representative of the management, with qualitative thematic analysis methodology. The results came up from this study stated that employer’s broadened perspective, employer’s full support, and disability confidence or the employer’s confident level in hiring and employed people with disability are the important factors to create disability inclusion is truly happened at the workplace.

The ecosystem of disability inclusion in hospitality and tourism organisations: an integrative review and research agenda

PurposeThis paper reviews the literature on disability inclusion (DI) in supply and demand chains of hospitality and tourism (H&T) organisations. The purpose of this study is to assess disability support and interventions within H&T organisations. Through the assessment, we identified gaps to recommend H&T scholars’ and practitioners’ knowledge of DI from new perspectives.Design/methodology/approachAn integrative review was conducted to examine the published evidence on DI in H&T organisations. This study used high-ranking H&T journals from the Scopus and Web of Science databases between 2001 and 2023. In total, 101 empirical papers met the criteria for the review analysis.FindingsDI focuses heavily on customer disabilities, with scant research on DI in H&T employment. The review emphasises the critical need for empirical research into the varied disability employment ecosystem within H&T organisations, focusing on social integration for inclusive workplaces.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the H&T literature, which previously overlooked the disability context in diversity. The research offers strategies for creating inclusive environments in the H&T industry for disabled consumers and producers.

Development of a modified frailty index for adult spinal deformities independent of functional changes following surgical correction: a true baseline risk assessment tool.

To develop a simplified, modified frailty index for adult spinal deformity (ASD) patients dependent on objective clinical factors. ASD patients with baseline (BL) and 2-year (2Y) follow-up were included. Factors with the largest R2 value derived from multivariate forward stepwise regression were including in the modified ASD-FI (clin-ASD-FI). Factors included in the clin-ASD-FI were regressed against mortality, extended length of hospital stay (LOS, > 8days), revisions, major complications and weights for the clin-ASD-FI were calculated via Beta/Sullivan. Total clin-ASD-FI score was created with a score from 0 to 1. Linear regression correlated clin-ASD-FI with ASD-FI scores and published cutoffs for the ASD-FI were used to create the new frailty cutoffs: not frail (NF: < 0.11), frail (F: 0.11-0.21) and severely frail (SF: > 0.21). Binary logistic regression assessed odds of complication or reop for frail patients. Five hundred thirty-one ASD patients (59.5yrs, 79.5% F) were included. The final model had a R2 of 0.681, and significant factors were: < 18.5 or > 30 BMI (weight: 0.0625 out of 1), cardiac disease (0.125), disability employment status (0.3125), diabetes mellitus (0.0625), hypertension (0.0625), osteoporosis (0.125), blood clot (0.1875), and bowel incontinence (0.0625). These factors calculated the score from 0 to 1, with a mean cohort score of 0.13 ± 0.14. Breakdown by clin-ASD-FI score: 51.8% NF, 28.1% F, 20.2% SF. Increasing frailty severity was associated with longer LOS (NF: 7.0, F: 8.3, SF: 9.2days; P < 0.001). Frailty independently predicted occurrence of any complication (OR: 9.357 [2.20-39.76], P = 0.002) and reop (OR: 2.79 [0.662-11.72], P = 0.162). Utilizing an existing ASD frailty index, we proposed a modified version eliminating the patient-reported components. This index is a true assessment of physiologic status, and represents a superior risk factor assessment compared to other tools for both primary and revision spinal deformity surgery as a result of its immutability with surgery, lack of subjectivity, and ease of use.

Assistive Technology's Potential to Improve Employment of People with Disabilities.

This study investigates how access to assistive technologies affects employment and earnings among people with disabilities. We first document employment and earnings gaps associated with specific impairments and activity limitations using 2017-2021 American Community Survey and 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation data. We then use accommodations data from the 2012, 2019, and 2021 Current Population Survey (CPS) Disability Supplements to examine employment and earnings growth for people with disabilities related both to any, and to technology-based, accommodations. We also provide short descriptions of three developing assistive technologies that assist people with upper body impairments, visual impairments, and anxiety conditions. Almost all impairments and activity limitations are linked to lower employment and earnings, with especially low employment among people with mobility impairments and particularly low earnings among those with cognitive impairments. About one-tenth of workers with disabilities received any accommodations, and 3-4% received equipment-based accommodations in the 2012-2021 period; these figures increased slightly over the period. The occupations with the highest disability accommodations rates had greater disability employment growth from 2012 to 2021, but disability pay gaps did not decrease more in these occupations. The three developing assistive technologies we describe illustrate the potential to reduce the estimated employment and earnings deficits. Assistive technology accommodations have potential for improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities.