A study by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) has thrown light on the uneven representation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the workforce as the employment rates within the community of PWDs vary.
The study found that the nature of barriers for organizations when it concerned hiring people with disabilities varied between subjective (familiarity, bias) and objective (architectural barriers) perspectives. Apart from external factors unique to the organization context, factors like industry trends, customer biases, quota system played a key role.
The gap in the group
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, includes 21 types of disabilities, including leprosy cured persons, dwarfism, autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, specific learning disorders, acid attack victims, along with several other categories. However, within the group, there are differences in employment and unemployment patterns.
The latest study by the Department of Management Studies at IITM underscored the need for organizations to seek talent beyond familiar types of disabilities. It ascertained leaders’ perspectives on the key factors that determined the decisions in targeted recruitment of people with only some types of disabilities.
At least 17 organizations from different sectors took part in the survey. These included categories like electronics, energy, fast-moving consumer goods, market research, manufacturing, to name a few among public and private sector organizations.
A range of factors
The factors driving the decisions included knowledge about the type of disability, work characteristics, accommodations, accessibility, and external pressures that shape employer decisions.
Non-conscious bias too played a role in the hiring decision, said the study. The leader perceptions were dictated by factors like cost of workplace adjustments, accessibility, and the value addition they see from inclusion depending on experience. When it came to external pressures, there was a difference between the public and private sectors. While for the public sector, it was about legislation and mandates, for the latter, it was customer-related or industry-related trends.
Dr. Lata Dyaram, associate professor at the department, pointed out that while most employers may believe in DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), many hold back when it concerned hiring people with disabilities as a disability was a potential cost or risk. She added that a paradigm shift in talent strategies was needed to realize synergies and collaborate with a diverse talent pool. “A simple thing to start with is to defy our assumptions and seek to overcome real or perceived challenges we link with disabilities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are nothing new to India. Several positive initiatives, innovation hacks, or ‘jugaad’ often observed in small and medium-sized organizations providing suitable workarounds to foster inclusion teach us about strategic intent,” she was quoted as saying.
The study concluded that ‘with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development adopted by all United Nations member states stressing reducing inequality, it is important to create inclusive and sustainable societies. Workplace disability management requires moving beyond a mere acknowledgment to more strategic intent and implementation of universal design principles toward sustainable inclusion of persons with diverse disabilities into the mainstream.’
