A framework for developing employer’s disability confidence

• Date: 11 February 2019
• Pages: 40-55
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-05-2018-0085
• Published date: 11 February 2019
• Author: Sally Lindsay,Joanne Leck,Winny Shen,Elaine Cagliostro,Jennifer Stinson
• Subject Matter: Hr & organizational behaviour

A framework for developing

employer’s disability confidence

Sally Lindsay

Bloorview Research Institute,

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Canada and

Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy,

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Joanne Leck

Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour,

Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Winny Shen

Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

Elaine Cagliostro

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and

Jennifer Stinson

Hospital for Sick Children, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing,

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Purpose –Many employers lack disability confidence regarding how to include people with disabilities in

the workforce, which can lead to stigma and discrimination. The purpose of this paper is to explore the

concept of disability confidence from two perspectives, employers who hire people with a disability and

employees with a disability.

Design/methodology/approach –A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted using 35 semi-structured

interviews (18 employers who hire people with disabilities; 17 employees with a disability).

Findings –Themes included the following categories: disability discomfort (i.e. lack of experience, stigma

and discrimination); reaching beyond comfort zone (i.e. disability awareness training, business case, shared

lived experiences); broadened perspectives (i.e. challenging stigma and stereotypes, minimizing bias and

focusing on abilities); and disability confidence (i.e. supportive and inclusive culture and leading and

modeling social change). The results highlight that disability confidence among employers is critical for

enhancing the social inclusion of people with disabilities.

Originality/value –The study addresses an important gap in the literature by developing a better

understanding of the concept of disability from the perspectives of employers who hire people with

disabilities and also employees with a disability.

Keywords Discrimination, Social inclusion, Diversity, Disabilities, Disabled workers

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Although people with disabilities are often willing and capable of working they continue

to experience low employment rates, which can negatively impact their health and quality

of life (Barnes and Mercer, 2005; Lindsay, 2011b; Ruhindwa et al., 2016). Common barriers

to finding meaningful employment for people with disabilities are linked to stigma,

discrimination and inaccessible environments (Edwards and Imrie, 2003; Fevre et al., 2013;

Lindsay, 2011a; Lindsay and Yantzi, 2014). It is often challenging for people with

disabilities to find employment because many jobs are often designed around an ideal

abled-bodied worker, creating further disadvantages to those with disabilities who do not

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 38 No. 1, 2019

pp. 40-55

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-05-2018-0085

Received 18 May 2018

Revised 9 August 2018

Accepted 26 September 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

Funding for this study was provided by a CIHR-SSHRC Partnership grant. The authors would like to

thank the participants and the TRAIL lab staff and volunteers for their support.

40

EDI

38,1

fit the image sought by employers (Edwards and Imrie, 2003; Foster and Wass, 2013;

Lindsay et al., 2014).

Recently there has been a movement toward employers embracing the advantages of a

diverse workforce, including hiring people with disabilities (Dagan et al., 2015; Hoque et al.,

2014; Rae et al., 2011; Waterhouse et al., 2011).This movement is partly informed by the social

model of disability,which focuses on social oppression, environmentalbarriers and challenges

the notion of the medicalization and individualistic accounts of disability (Shakespeare,2016).

Furthermore, approaches to human rights that are emphasized by international legal policy

such as the United Nations General Assembly (2016), United Nations (2018), and the

InternationalLabor Organization (2015)arguably shape society’s thinking around inc lusion of

people with disabilities and their disability confidence in working with them.

Many governments are now working on improving the employment rates of people with

disabilities. One approach to doing so is by increasing employer’s disability confidence (i.e.

knowledge and understanding on how to include people with disabilities) (Henry et al., 2014;

Lindsay and Cancelliere, 2018; Mik-Meyer, 2016; Unger, 2007). For example, the UK recently

started a “disability confident”campaign in 2013 to focus on employers enhancing their

understanding of disability, removing barriers and emphasizing the business case for hiring

people with disabilities (Gluck, 2014). Similarly, the Australian Employers Network on

Disability (2008) emphasizes the importance of employers having disability confidence.

Not only will such campaigns help people with disabilities to potentially improve their

employment rates, but they will also highlight the many benefits of hiring people with

disabilities (Graffam et al., 2002; Lindsay, Cagliostro, Albarico, Mortaji and Karon, 2018).

Within the current literature the concept of disability confidence is defined as creating a

culture of inclusion for employees and delivering accessible customer service to those with

disabilities (McConkey, 2015; Riches and Green, 2003; Suter et al., 2007). The conception of

disability confidence originated from the human resources field, mostly out of employers’

desire to move away from the notion of perceived disadvantage that is commonly

(and stereotypically) linked with disability (Dagan et al., 2015; Rae et al., 2011; Waterhouse

et al., 2011). Currently, there is uncertainty about what the concept means regarding the

actions employers need to take in howto become disability confidentemployers (Gluck, 2014).

Exploring this concept in further depth is important because although the term disability

confidence is becoming more frequent in use, it lacks empirical evidence andis based mainly

on anecdotes and non-peer reviewed literature (Lindsay and Cancelliere,2018). It is critical to

establish peer-reviewed evidence for this concept because the quality and rigor of grey

literature maybe uncertain and also susceptibleto bias and potential conflictsof interests. Of

the few studies that exist on disability confidence, they are mostly quantitative or non-peer-

reviewed (Gluck, 2014; Suter et al., 2007; Waterhouse et al., 2011), or they do not focus on

employers (Dagan et al., 2015; Fichten et al., 2005; Lindsay and Cancelliere, 2018; Rae et al.,

2011). Therefore, a more in-depth, qualitative approach is needed to understand the concept

and experiences among employers, which is the aim of this current study.

Lacking disability confidence can create discomfort when interacting or working with

someone who has a disability (Waterhouse et al., 2011), which can lead to potential

disengagement among employers (Ruhindwa et al., 2016). Research consistently shows that

others’lack of knowledge about people with disabilities (or disability confidence) can have

adverse implications for people with disabilities such as stigma, discrimination, and social

exclusion (Fevre et al., 2013; Lindsay et al., 2019; Lindsay and Edwards, 2013; Mik-Meyer,

2016; Morgan and Alexander, 2005; Yuker, 1994).

Developing disability knowledge and confidence can improve over time as people gain more

exposure to, and experience with, people who have a disability (McConkey, 2015). For example,

beingincontactwithapersonwhohasadisabilitycan help to improve positive attitudes, social

inclusion and empathy, while reducing stigma and stereotypes (Barr and Bracchitta, 2008;

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Employer’s

disability

confidence