Beyond compliance: A randomized trial of DEI statements and subsequent signals for job seekers with disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Companies are increasingly attending to their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements in their public-facing documents, including job advertisements. Little is known about how various decisions about language type or placement within a job ad are received by marginalized populations, including those living with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore various options for DEI statements within job ads, to assess whether these choices have a measurable impact on potential job seekers living with disabilities. METHODS: An experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 design was used which varied the DEI language (legal/traditional or heartfelt), the placement at the top or the bottom of the job advertisement, and whether the company offered the opportunity to indicate a need for accommodations even before the interview. Quantitative and qualitative items measured general reactions to the statement, intent to apply to this company, willingness to disclose a need for accommodations, how supportive the company seemed, and impressions of the company's level of trustworthiness. Statistical tests include t-tests, z-tests for proportions, and regression-based tests for mediation. RESULTS: Heartfelt statements and upfront placement inspired more positive reactions from participants, with trust mediating these positive relationships. However, participants also expressed skepticism that, regardless of language, bias would still exist in the reality of the job. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that job candidates with disabilities are not indifferent to a company's DEI framing and prefer heartfelt language and earlier placement, though statements without direct evidence can raise suspicion about whether the actions would stay true to the words.

Small Empires: How Equipped are Small Business Owners to Hire People with Disabilities?

PURPOSE: This study explores small businesses' knowledge base and practices concerning interviewing and hiring job candidates with disabilities, as they are not required to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). METHODS: We first conducted 18 in-depth interviews with small business owners to explore their knowledge of the ADA, their practices surrounding hiring (for those with and without disabilities), and their sense of the best practices for how a candidate should navigate the interview and request for accommodations. Responses were then used to create a survey of an additional 110 small business owners. RESULTS: Six themes arose from the interviews, illuminating the steep learning curve involved in each (1) hiring well, (2) the need to trust an employee's character as much as their skill set, (3) the need for an employee to fit within the small business's family-like environment, (4) the preference for job candidates to be transparent about their needs as early as possible, (5) the importance of personal experience with disability, and (6) the difficulty in obtaining precise information about the ADA. Survey responses supported the general findings of the interviews while also providing information about the relative rarity of encountering a job candidate with a disability. CONCLUSION: Hiring employees with disabilities is challenging for small businesses, and bias is difficult to avoid. The availability of clear information on how to comply with the ADA and other laws and practices would be welcome by many small business owners.

From Classroom to Boardroom: Self-Advocacy and Navigating the Transition for Students with Disabilities.

PURPOSE: This article evaluates the effectiveness of Career Services in supporting college students with disabilities to self-advocate for their accommodation rights during the job search. METHOD: A qualitative case study was conducted at one university to examine how their Career Services unit educates, trains, and supports students with disabilities in their professional development. Two rounds of interviews were conducted: one with university staff responsible for such services to assess policies and practices in providing support, and one with students and alumni with disabilities to gather feedback on their experiences with career planning and employment. RESULTS: Three key themes emerged from the data: (1) Disability stigma negatively impacts a willingness to self-advocate among participants (this is especially true among those belonging to multiple marginalized groups); (2) the lack of transition support by the university further entrenches this stigma; and (3) participants report subsequent challenges in the crossover to employment. CONCLUSION: These identified barriers discouraged participants from planning for and seeking workplace accommodations and highlighted the need for universities to provide more comprehensive support for their professional development.

Neat Gizmo!/That Looks Scary: Employer Reactions to Assistive Technology.

PURPOSE: Accommodations are vital for protecting equal access and increasing the employment of people with disabilities. However, the evidence on whether employers are willing or resistant to provide accommodations is mixed. We explore reactions to accommodations specifically associated with Assistive Technologies (AT). While the presence of such a device should reassure hiring managers about the abilities of the candidate to do the job, they also risk raising new questions and uncertainties. METHODS: Hypothetical job candidates with and without disabilities were presented to participants with hiring experience to examine perceptions of employability, risk, and trust. Several conditions included the candidate describing the use of AT (i.e., an exosuit) and requesting accommodations, with and without extra technical or enthusiastic language to explain the specific device. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative results show that the request for accommodations, in general, is problematic. And while using the exosuit seems to benefit perceptions of trust, it still seems risky and does not categorically improve employability perceptions. Extra language provided by the candidate to explain the device did not improve outcomes but did (in the case of enthusiastic language) make people more open to seeing the positive aspects of the device. CONCLUSION: While using an AT is a positive advance for a job candidate with a disability, the perceptual risk and the salience of the disability are both increased. Future work is needed to explore the options for better reassuring hiring managers about such devices.

Telework during the pandemic: Patterns, challenges, and opportunities for people with disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Telework has benefits for many people with disabilities. The pandemic may create new employment opportunities for people with disabilities by increasing employer acceptance of telework, but this crucially depends on the occupational structure. OBJECTIVE: We compare people with and without disabilities in the expansion of telework as the pandemic began, and the evolution of telework during the pandemic. METHODS: We use U.S. data from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2020 and the Current Population Survey over May 2020 to April 2022 period. Prevalence and trends are analyzed using linear probability and multinomial logit regressions. RESULTS: While workers with disabilities were more likely than those without disabilities to telework before the pandemic, they were less likely to telework during the pandemic. The occupational distribution accounts for most of this difference. Tight labor markets, as measured by state unemployment rates, particularly favor people with disabilities obtaining telework jobs. While people with cognitive/mental health and mobility impairments were the most likely to telework during the pandemic, tight labor markets especially favored the expansion of telework for people with vision impairments and difficulty with daily activities inside the home. CONCLUSIONS: Many people with disabilities benefit from working at home, and the pandemic has increased employer acceptance of telework, but the current occupational distribution limits this potential. Tighter labor markets during the recovery offer hope that employers will increasingly hire people with disabilities in both telework and non-telework jobs.

The disclosure dilemma: requesting accommodations for chronic pain in job interviews.

PURPOSE: This study explores the job interview process for those who need disability-related accommodations on the job (in particular an "invisible" disability such as many of the long-term and late effects of cancer and its treatment (e.g., pain, fatigue, cognitive problems)), and explores whether the communication channel or the timing of the disclosure has implications on the perceived employability of applicants, with the aim of helping to close the employment gap for this marginalized population. METHODS: Using 1917 participants in a partially crossed 2 × 3 × 2 experimental design, we explored disclosing the need for accommodations using each video or audio-only channels, by varying the timing of the disclosure within the interview (early, late, or not at all), and by varying the negotiation strategy used (modest or significant increase over proposed salary). Participants rated the candidate's employability at two different points in time. RESULTS: Early and late disclosures of the need for accommodations were both associated with poorer ratings of employability. Disclosure via audio was singularly damaging as compared to video disclosure, whether it occurred early or late. Finally, asking for a significant increase in salary resulted in lower ratings of employability, especially if the disclosure of the disability happened late in the process (and proximally to the salary request itself). CONCLUSIONS: Holding off on the request for accommodations until after the job has been offered may be advisable. Similarly, disability disclosures and requests for accommodation are better received using richer communication channels (video as opposed to audio). Salary requests are also sensitive topics and can be affected by ill-timed disclosures. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: If accommodations are needed on the job (based on chronic pain), waiting until later in the process to discuss this topic (using video and not the phone) and ensuring distance in time from making a salary request are apparently the better choices.

Telework After COVID: A "Silver Lining" for Workers with Disabilities?

Purpose The COVID pandemic was a severe blow to all workers, but it may ultimately have a silver lining for some workers with disabilities if it makes work from home easier and more acceptable. In addition, the pandemic is shaking up traditional workplace structures and causing employers to rethink how essential tasks can be done, which may broaden their views of workplace accommodations. We assess the potential for the pandemic to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Methods This article analyzes pre-COVID data on disability and home-based work from three representative data sources-the American Community Survey, American Time Use Survey, and Current Population Survey. We employ both cross-tabulations and regressions to predict work at home. Results We find that workers with disabilities are more likely than those without disabilities both to work primarily from home and to do any work at home. This is true for both employees and self-employed workers. Workers with disabilities face similar wage gaps in on-site and home-based work, indicating that while increased availability of home-based work may create more employment opportunities for workers with disabilities, it is unlikely to erase wage disparities. While workers with disabilities are currently more likely to be working primarily from home, only 34% are in occupations with high potential for home-based work, compared to 40% of workers without disabilities. Conclusions Workers with disabilities are currently more likely to work from home and many may benefit from expanded work-at-home opportunities, but the types of jobs they hold constrain this potential. Research is needed to see how home-based work evolves as the economy recovers from the pandemic over the next several years.

Disability at Work: A Look Back and Forward.

Purpose This article presents new evidence on employment barriers and workplace disparities facing employees with disabilities, linking the disparities to employee attitudes. Methods Analyses use the 2006 General Social Survey to connect disability to workplace disparities and attitudes in a structural equation model. Results Compared to employees without disabilities, those with disabilities report: lower pay levels, job security, and flexibility; more negative treatment by management; and, lower job satisfaction but similar organizational commitment and turnover intention. The lower satisfaction is mediated by lower job security, less job flexibility, and more negative views of management and co-worker relations. Conclusion Prior research and the present findings show that people with disabilities experience employment disparities that limit their income, security, and overall quality of work life. Technology plays an increasingly important role in decreasing employment disparities. However, there also should be increased targeted efforts by government, employers, insurers, occupational rehabilitation providers, and disability groups to address workplace barriers faced by employees with disabilities, and by those with disabilities seeking to return to work.