Workforce Inclusion Research Articles

A new roadmap for an age-inclusive workforce management practice and an international policies comparison.

Worldwide, the worker population age is growing at an increasing rate. Consequently, government institutions and companies are being tasked to find new ways to address age-related workforce management challenges and opportunities. The development of age-friendly working environments to enhance ageing workforce inclusion and diversity has become a current management and national policy imperative. Since an ageing workforce population is a spreading worldwide trend, an identification and analysis of worker age related best practices across different countries would help the development of novel palliative paradigms and initiatives. This study proposes a new systematic research-based roadmap that aims to support executives and administrators in implementing an age-inclusive workforce management program. The roadmap integrates and builds on published literature, best practices, and international policies and initiatives that were identified, collected, and analysed by the authors. The roadmap provides a critical comparison of age-inclusive management practices and policies at three different levels of intervention: international, country, and company. Data collection and analysis was conducted simultaneously across eight countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Slovenia, and the USA. The findings of this research guide the development of a framework and roadmap to help manage the challenges and opportunities of an ageing workforce in moving towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient labour force.

A new roadmap for an age-inclusive workforce management practice and an international policies comparison

Background Worldwide, the worker population age is growing at an increasing rate. Consequently, government institutions and companies are being tasked to find new ways to address age-related workforce management challenges and opportunities. The development of age-friendly working environments to enhance ageing workforce inclusion and diversity has become a current management and national policy imperative. Since an ageing workforce population is a spreading worldwide trend, an identification and analysis of worker age related best practices across different countries would help the development of novel palliative paradigms and initiatives. Methods This study proposes a new systematic research-based roadmap that aims to support executives and administrators in implementing an age-inclusive workforce management program. The roadmap integrates and builds on published literature, best practices, and international policies and initiatives that were identified, collected, and analysed by the authors. The roadmap provides a critical comparison of age-inclusive management practices and policies at three different levels of intervention: international, country, and company. Data collection and analysis was conducted simultaneously across eight countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Slovenia, and the USA. Results and conclusions The findings of this research guide the development of a framework and roadmap to help manage the challenges and opportunities of an ageing workforce in moving towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient labour force.

The Impact of the Malaysia Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) Programme

The Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) Programme in Malaysia is a significant initiative to recognize and accredite individuals' prior learning experiences, particularly through work, life, or informal learning. We examined the impact of the APEL in Malaysia, focusing on its implications for individuals, educational institutions, employers, and society. By analyzing the outcomes, challenges, and opportunities associated with APEL, the effectiveness and potential enhancements of the APEL were verified in promoting lifelong learning, skills development, and workforce inclusion in Malaysia.

Equity in healthcare and workforce: Outcomes from the Mayo Clinic RISE for Equity: Reflect, Inspire, Strengthen & Empower conference

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of the Mayo Clinic Reflect, Inspire, Strengthen and Empower (RISE) for Equity national conference on participant healthcare professionals’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism. Data sourcesand Study Setting: Primary data were collected from conference participants (N = 430) who represented 37 states and were primarily employed as healthcare professionals. Quantitative and qualitative assessments were electronically conducted immediately post-conference (n = 180) and three months post-conference (n = 105). Study designA case study/program evaluation study design was employed to assess changes in participants' DEI and anti-racism KSAs. Surveys included demographic questions and Likert scale questions, measuring knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Qualitative responses were also analyzed for thematic outcomes. Data collection and extraction methodsSurveys were administered via the Qualtrics XM Platform, with participation being anonymous. Responses were collected at both timepoints, and mean scores for KSAs were analyzed. Qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Principal findingsParticipants' mean scores for knowledge, skills, and attitudes were favorable at both timepoints and remained statistically unchanged, indicating sustained impact. Qualitative feedback revealed themes of growth, support, and understanding identities, demonstrating participants' commitment to promoting DEI and anti-racism in their work practices. ConclusionsThe Mayo Clinic RISE for Equity conference effectively enhanced participants' DEI and anti-racism KSAs, with positive outcomes sustained over three months. This study highlights the value of communal learning experiences and intentional DEI and anti-racism education. Further research should explore the broader impact of such initiatives on health disparities and workforce inclusion, considering diverse populations and organizations beyond Mayo Clinic.

Designing the journey for inclusivity and accessibility in virtual manufacturing environments: An exploration through empathy

With one in four EU adults having disabilities and only half employed full-time, there is a need for enhanced workforce inclusion and accessibility. Despite Industry 4.0’s technological advancements, gaps in adoption persist for individuals with disabilities, hindering potential engagement within manufacturing. Leveraging Virtual Reality (VR)’s immersive qualities, empathic design principles were applied to empathise with individuals living with cognitive impairment in the context of digital manufacturing assembly processes. Exploring empathy’s role in enhancing inclusivity and accessibility, a qualitative study was conducted with manufacturing professionals and individuals with cognitive conditions, bridging the gap between current and future employees with diverse cognitive abilities. The findings, which are visualised through a novel user journey map, showcase VR’s potential as a tool for inclusive design by determining interaction modes that augment workforce diversity in manufacturing.

Bodies in‐between: Religious women's‐only spaces and the construction of liminal identities

AbstractThis paper examines the creation of women‐only organizational spaces as a diversity practice and assesses their potential to facilitate the workforce inclusion of religious women from gender‐conservative groups. Based on longitudinal fieldwork in two ultra‐Orthodox‐Jewish women‐only colleges in Israel and interviews with students and staff, we demonstrate how this practice constitutes three types of liminality—spatial, social, and epistemic—that enable ultra‐Orthodox women to move unimpeded between a familiar, religious environment and a secular one. In this protected and carefully curated environment, they feel safe and are able to develop new identities relevant to the secular labor market while maintaining or even enhancing their traditional, religious sense of self. The liminal space of the college reinforces their sense of belonging to a space of their own and serves as a bridge that helps them cope with the secular world.

Accountability Committee Tracks APA’s Progress on Structural Racism

Accountability Committee Tracks APA’s Progress on Structural Racism

Segregated Work or Very Minimal Community Employment for Job Workers with Disabilities

In comparison to work centers, supported employment is the more favorable method to advance people with disabilities into the workforce. One of the central goals of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is to increase supported employment and community job opportunities for people with disabilities by phasing out 14 (c) certificates. Work centers use such certificates to pay people subminimum wages; without a 14 (c) certificate, work centers will close. Though supported employment creates equitable opportunities for job seekers with disabilities, such opportunities are undesirable for some. To emphasize this, the author interprets quantitative data pertaining to job seekers/workers in Walla Walla County, Washington. Walla Walla County, located in rural southeastern Washington, is home to approximately 60,760 residents. While the majority of those within this study’s sample hold community jobs, they, on average, are employed for less than half of the hours they prefer to work. To understand how these limited weekly hour schedules are created, an employment consultant’s role is considered in great detail. While workforce inclusion is an unquestionably necessary goal for people with disabilities, their vocational preferences should not be secondary to the possible benefits of community employment.

Employment and attendance in day care centres for people with mild intellectual disabilities - do age, gender, functional level or hospital admissions matter?

Workforce inclusion is an important political goal in many countries. However, nearly 70% of Norwegians registered with mild intellectual disabilities (IDs) are not registered employed or attending in day care centres. This study investigates the association between age, gender, functional level and hospital admissions with employment or attendance in public financed, community-based day care centres for adults with mild IDs in Norway. This study is based on data from a linkage of the national population-based registries from 2013 to 2015: Statistics Norway (SSB), the Norwegian Information System for the Nursing and Care Sector (IPLOS) and the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR). The sample consisted of 2370 adults registered with a mild ID, receiving disability pension in Norway, aged 18-67years. Binary and multinomial logistic analyses, adjusted for age, gender, functional level and hospital admissions, were performed. In 2015, 45.7% and 19.6% of the samples aged 20-31 and 52-63years, respectively, were registered as employed or in day care centres. Participation in day care is a public service registered in IPLOS, which requires registration of functional level, while attendance in employment support is registered in SSB, where functional level is not registered. Compared with people registered with a high functional level, the probability of being employed or in day care centres was lower for people without registration of functional level. People with hospital admissions were less likely to be employed, especially if they had both psychiatric and somatic hospital admissions. People were less likely to attend day care and open employment only if they had a combination of both types of hospital admissions. Attendance in day care centres was less likely for men than women. Older people with mild ID, without registered functional level (meaning not receiving public community-based services) and with a history of hospital admissions were significantly less likely to be employed or participate in day care centres. The clear association between not being employed or attending day care centres and not having one's functional level registered implies there is a need for increased focus on how to enhance work participation among people with mild IDs who are not within the system of receiving public services.

\u2018Believe in me and I will believe in myself\u2019, a rural Australian health service learns how to mangan dunguludja ngatan (build strong employment) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: a qualitative study

BackgroundAustralian Aboriginal people have higher rates of unemployment and poorer health than non-Aboriginal Australians. Historical segregation policies that spanned 60 years negatively impacted workforce inclusion. A Victorian regional health service recently developed an Aboriginal Employment Plan (AEP) targeted to reach 2% employment of Aboriginal people by 2020. This study aimed to identify strategies that will build strong Aboriginal employment.MethodologyA qualitative research protocol was designed. Purposive recruitment of people with a vested interest in the growth of Aboriginal employment at the health service participated in focus groups and individual interviews.ResultsTwenty-four people including local Elders, past and present Aboriginal employees, key community stakeholders and health service executives participated. Learnings from the past, the present and strategies for the future emerged from two important stories: (1) the story of a strong group of local Aboriginal people who successfully approached the matron of the hospital in the early 1960s for employment. (2) The story of the ‘verandah babies’.DiscussionThe history of the health service in question demonstrated the power of the possible with a self-determined group of Aboriginal people, who, in the face of cultural inequity, achieved employment at the health service. The opportunity for healing and a new start was illustrated by the story of women who gave birth on the verandahs due to their exclusion from the main hospital. Today, the ‘verandahs’ have been replaced with a modern hospital decorated with Aboriginal art, expressing cultural safety and inclusion, presenting fertile ground for strengthening and sustaining Aboriginal employment.ConclusionEleven strategies have emerged from three themes; safety, equity and pathway, offering mainstream health services insight into how to mangan dunguludja ngatan (build strong employment). Cultural safety can be achieved through acknowledging the past and reconciling that through engaging, partnering and collaborating with the Aboriginal community. Visual representations of culture and participation in celebratory activities engender awareness and understanding. The development of local, flexible career development pathways for Aboriginal people facilitates a ‘sense of belonging’ to the health service and a dual ‘sense of pride’ within the community: whereby the Aboriginal person feels proud to represent their community and the community is proud to be represented. Cultural equity is facilitated through mutual learning and reciprocal understanding of difference.

Developing a workstation design assistance tool for older knowledge workforce inclusion

The paper addresses two significant and growing trends: knowledge work and population ageing. The population pyramid inversion brings important changes for society as a whole. These changes are associated with the inclusion of older persons in the workforce for knowledge work, which represents a challenge for adapting the work environment to meet all workers’ needs. In order to approach a more universal design of the work environment system, industrial designers need support from user-sensitive inclusive design studies. Moreover, there are plenty of guidelines and tools containing relevant information. However, there is the need to develop more appropriate tools oriented to industrial designers and that cover the initial phase of the design process. A study about and with users and designers have driven the research outcomes and direction. Through an iterative process, various prototypes versions have been developed through research and designers’ feedback. A range of contents and a theoretical framework, namely UCAP, have been developed in order to implement them in this inclusive workstation design guidance tool. This study provides an overview of how knowledge work is affected by the ageing of the population, the role of designers in helping to create inclusive workstations, and the need for developing a new tool to aid designers in this endeavour. A theoretical framework intended for use in the development of the inclusive workstation design guidance tool is proposed and developed. As a result, this study provides one step towards the universal design of the products and environments found in knowledge work for the benefit of not only designers but consumers, makers and buyers of such products, all of whom can benefit from these outcomes.

Sustaining work force inclusion and well-being of mothers on public assistance: Individual deficit and social ecology perspectives

This study compared theoretical perspectives on the psychological and paid labor activity implications of mandating mothers initially on US welfare to participate in labor force activities. Data were collected that reflected these areas: government public policy interventions, family social ecology measures, mother’s psychological and human capital, and community capital. A quasi-experimental design was used, and multiple source data was collected over time. In the initial part of the study, 144 welfare mothers and one of their children between 9 and 13 years were interviewed. Results indicated that having high levels of individual human and psychological capital and lower levels of family social ecological barriers predicted higher levels of maternal paid labor market activity and psychological well-being. Using archival records, additional analyses involved a 32-month review of state records for nearly 1200 mothers initially on welfare. Results revealed that the lower one’s initial capital—either educational (lacking GED or high school diploma) or community-based (residents spending a high percentage of gross income on rent), the greater one’s economic dependence on public welfare, regardless of whether one was assigned to a welfare to work program or to a control group. Thus, mandating labor market activity as a government public policy was not effective as an isolated strategy to uphold employability over time. These results suggest that employers and government leaders need to provide individual human capital and community capital investments to sustain work force inclusion of low-income mothers.