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Disability & Society
ISSN: 0968-7599 (Print) 1360-0508 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdso20
Lived employment experiences of college students and graduates with physical disabilities in the United States
Mikyong Minsun Kim & Brenda C. Williams
To cite this article: Mikyong Minsun Kim & Brenda C. Williams (2012) Lived employment experiences of college students and graduates with physical disabilities in the United States, Disability & Society, 27:6, 837-852, DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2012.673081
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.673081
Published online: 30 Apr 2012.
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Lived employment experiences of college students and graduates with physical disabilities in the United States
Mikyong Minsun Kim* and Brenda C. Williams
Department of Educational Leadership, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
(Received 27 April 2011; final version received 15 September 2011)
This phenomenological study aims at understanding lived experiences of college seniors and recent college graduates with physical disabilities seeking employ- ment opportunities after graduation in the USA The extensive interviews revealed that participants’ attitudes about and experiences with disability are diverse (pain to pride, denied accommodation to support); their major areas of concern are their own marketable skills and credentials as well as accessibility and accommodation in workplaces; continued education beyond the baccalaure- ate is a priority for many participants rather than an immediate transition to work; and the Office of Disability and professors were considered important advising agencies. Even among participants with similar physical disabilities, the symptoms, needs, and experiences varied.
Keywords: college; lived employment experiences; physical disabilities
Points of interest
• Employment immediately after college may not be an immediate goal for some students with physical disabilities. Participants agreed that an advanced degree is important to enhance their employment opportunities.
• College students and graduates with disabilities appeared to be limited in their knowledge about how the statutes provide academic accommodations and employment protections.
• All participants noted that workplace accessibility and accommodation are major concerns when they apply for a job.
• Most participants felt social discrimination and a few expressed discouragements with the system as they tried to access accommodations in the workplace.
• Collaborative efforts among career service centers, disability support centers, and academic units could enhance career planning and gainful employment.
Introduction
The National Organization on Disability (2004) reported that Americans with disabilities continue to lag well behind other Americans in many of the most
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Disability & Society Vol. 27, No. 6, October 2012, 837–852
ISSN 0968-7599 print/ISSN 1360-0508 online � 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.673081 http://www.tandfonline.com
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fundamental aspects of life, including employment. While persons with disabilities are legislatively protected in the USA, they are the most underemployed group (Aune and Kroeger 1997). According to a statistical report collected by the Office of Disability Employment Policy, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was unacceptably high, over 30% in 2004 (US Department of Labor 2004). While the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities appears to be decreasing (15.2%) lately, the Office of Disability Employment Policy reported: ‘the percentage of people with disabilities in the labor force was 21.1 compared with 69.7 for per- sons with no disability’ (US Department of Labor 2011). The World Health Organi- zation. (2011b) estimates that approximately 10% of the world’s population has disabilities. The United Nations reported disparities for people with disabilities globally; in developing countries (e.g. Latin America), ‘80 to 90% of persons with disabilities of working age are unemployed, whereas in industrialized countries, the figure is between 50% and 70%’ (United Nations 2011, 1). Particularly, in Canada, the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities is about 26%, compared with 5% for persons without disabilities; and in the European Union, there are approxi- mately 40 million persons with disabilities who are two to three times more likely to be unemployed than those without disabilities (United Nations 2011, 1). In the United Kingdom, only one-half of people with disabilities of working age are work- ing, compared with 80% of people without disability; currently 1.3 million persons with disabilities are available for and want to work (UK National Statistics 2011). Overall this high unemployment or under-employment trend suggests the magnitude of challenges confronting persons with physical disabilities who wish to participate in the labor force.
While scholars need to investigate employment experiences of all persons with disabilities, this study focuses on the employment issues and experiences of a his- torically under-represented and marginalized group in the labor market, college stu- dents and graduates with physical disabilities. Applying a phenomenological perspective, this study sought to understand their lived employment experiences during college and post college. The research questions are as follows:
(1) What are the lived employment experiences of seniors and recent graduates with physical disabilities?
(2) What are participants’ perceptions of how their disabilities influence their ability to obtain employment opportunities after graduation from college?
Literature
Disability laws and definitions
Disability laws
It was not until the mid-twentieth century that individuals with disabilities in the USA were provided with training beyond high school. The GI Bill of 1944 pro- vided unprecedented access to higher education for veterans with disabilities, but it did not provide civil rights protection. The evolution of substantial non- discrimination legislation appeared as a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Consequently, earlier civil rights laws spawned the promulgation of two major laws for people with disabilities: the Rehabilitation Act. (1973) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA 1990).
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Together, these laws set forth mandates for higher education institutions (Kaplan and Lee 1995; Thomas 2000). As a result, institutions are required to provide stu- dents with disabilities equal access to all programs and services in mainstreamed settings together with their non-disabled classmates (Burgstahler and Lopez 2004). In particular, the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination in employment toward people with disabilities, and the ADA mandates employment protections in the workplace and reasonable accommodations in the classroom for students with dis- abilities. The laws have had a substantial impact on the awareness and insight col- lege students with disabilities have about their rights and responsibilities under the law in order to secure employment after graduation.
Definitions
The ADA (1990, 7) states that a person with a disability: ‘(1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (2) has a record of such impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment’. The inclusion of people with sensory disabilities (hearing or vision loss) is recognized under the ADA as a physical disability. According to the World Health Organiza- tion’s definition: ‘Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity lim- itations, and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in exe- cuting a task or action; …’ (2011a, 1). This study applied the World Health Organi- zation’s scope on disabilities and deliberately followed the definition of the US disability law in selecting participants.
College students and graduates with disabilities in higher education
Data from the US Census Bureau show an increase in the number of college students with disabilities, reporting that ‘2.2 million undergraduates with a disability, as of the 2003–04 school year, or 11 percent of the undergraduate population’ (2007, 3). The US Department of Education’s (2006) National Center for Education Statistics fur- ther indicates the characteristics of the student population in terms of gender: males at 11.2% and females at 11.4%. The race/ethnicity proportions of students with dis- abilities are White at 11.7%, Black at 10.7%, Hispanic at 10.9%, Asian at 7.1%, American Indian at 14.8%, Pacific Islander at 9.1%, multiple races at 14.8%, and Other (US Department of Education 2006). The enrollment growth of this population in higher education certainly suggests an evolution of opportunities in the USA.
In a comprehensive national study including 21,000 undergraduates, approxi- mately 6% reported a disability (Horn, Berktold, and Bobbitt 1999, iii). Of this number, ‘29% report a learning disability; 16% report an orthopedic disability; 16% report non-correctable vision impairment; 16% report hearing impairments or deaf- ness; and 3% report a speech impairment’ (Horn, Berktold, and Bobbitt 1999, iii). There are very limited studies on college experiences of students and graduates with physical disabilities. Studies can be categorized into the following three areas: disclosure and accommodations, faculty and staff attitudes, and employer attitudes.
Disclosure and accommodations
Disability disclosure means making a disability known by voluntarily providing information about the disability (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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1992), and this was the first theme that emerged from Getzel and Thoma’s (2008) study. They noted that some participants were often uncertain about when disclo- sure is appropriate. To request accommodations for their classes, students with dis- abilities must seek the appropriate college service and a disability support unit, and they must self-identify. College students with disabilities often find ‘managing their accommodations in college a challenge’ (Getzel and Thoma 2008, 77). Getzel and Thoma found that students recounted negative experiences with asking for accommodations, and at times their requests resulted in being labeled. Students grappled with the fear of being labeled and with their apprehension about request- ing accommodations to be successful in their coursework and overall college expe- rience.
Faculty and staff attitudes
Studies such as Cornett-DeVito and Worley (2005), Getzel and Thoma (2008), and Silver, Strehorn, and Bourke (1997) state that faculty and staff attitudes matter for students with disabilities when they request appropriate accommodations. Based on a telephone survey of 47 college graduates, Silver, Strehorn, and Bourke (1997) examined how persons with a wide range of physical, sensory, and learning disabili- ties responded to employment history, experiences with faculty, and experiences with service providers. Findings revealed that a substantial number of respondents perceived that they did not receive the same quality and amount of career counsel- ing services as their non-disabled peers, and that there was a difference in choices of courses for students with disabilities.
Cornett-DeVito and Worley’s (2005) phenomenological study revealed that stu- dents with disabilities are apprehensive about self-disclosing and asking for accom- modations for fear of less-than-enthusiastic reception from faculty, along with social isolation, ostracism, or scorn from instructors as well as fellow students. Their par- ticipants also noted differences in the way they received classroom instruction and reported that their professors are not very understanding about classroom accommo- dations. Silver, Strehorn, and Bourke (1997) stated that earlier studies failed to examine the experiences of students with disabilities after they left the college or university.
Employer attitudes and practices
Employers’ attitudes and perceptions are critical in shaping hiring practices in the United States. Researchers (Brostrand 2006; Hernandez, Keys, and Balcazar 2000) suggest that the success of the ADA relies heavily on positive or negative employer attitudes. Attitudinal barriers create a dilemma within the business community that can often lead to workplace discrimination and job disparities (Brostrand 2006; Hernandez, Keys, and Balcazar 2000). The attitudes held by those in positions to hire workers with disabilities are the most troublesome issue in promoting employment of people with disabilities (Brostrand 2006). The review of attitudinal studies conducted by Hernandez, Keys, and Balcazar (2000) reveals that employers were both positive and less than enthusiastic in their attitudes about workers with disabilities. The issues expressed centered on the ability of workers with disabilities to be promoted and the costs associated with reasonable accom- modations.
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A federally funded study conducted at Cornell University (Bruyere 2000) provided insight into the types of disability and employers’ hiring practices that could affect the postgraduate employment outcomes. The public sector provided much greater access and more accommodations with wheelchair access, communi- cation access for hearing impaired, communication access for visually impaired, and removal of volatile/scented substances; on the other hand, allowance for time flexi- bility is somewhat better in the private sector.
Using a telephone survey of executives, Domzal, Houtenville, and Sharma (2008) tried to fill a void in researchers’ knowledge about the policies and practices of employers faced with hiring, recruiting, retaining, and promoting people with dis- abilities. The study provided a discussion related to company size. For small and mid-sized companies, the cost of employing people with disabilities and the belief that workers with disabilities lack the necessary skills were the most often cited concerns, while how to take disciplinary action was cited most often for large com- panies. In spite of limited perspectives, these previous studies provided important insights into college experiences and the employment journey of persons with dis- abilities.
Conceptual models of disability
The following classic models of disability have evolved over the past 40 years to describe, define, and explain disability (Altman 2001): the medical model of disabil- ity (Parsons 1975), the Nagi model (Nagi 1965), and the social model of disability (Oliver 1995). These models inform us of existing assumptions and standpoints on persons with disabilities and their world. According to the medical model (Parsons 1975), the problem of disability is located within the individual (who is considered sick). Specifically, a person is disabled due to individual impairments and therefore requires medical intervention to provide the person with the skills to adapt to soci- ety. Individuals with medical conditions often carry the burden of social stigmas from attitudes that those without disabilities may have internalized as biased opin- ions about the ability or lack of ability of people with disabilities.
The Nagi model (Nagi 1965) is similar to the medical model but does not view the individual as sick. Rather, the individual is viewed as limited. Individuals with disabilities move through four stages of progression in the Nagi framework: pathol- ogy, impairment, functional limitation, and disability. The pathology stage repre- sents the medical or mental conditions; the impairment stage is viewed as the physiological, anatomical, or mental condition that limits the person’s ability to function; functional limitation is a restriction on a person’s ability to perform an activity; and the final stage of disability is viewed as the limitation in performing roles and tasks that are socially expected. The Nagi model is one of the earliest models portraying the physical and pathological aspects of disability.
The social model of disability (Oliver 1995), developed in the early 1970s, places the emphasis on society and the environment. The social model was popular- ized in the disability movement and considered as ‘the ideological litmus test of dis- ability politics in Britain’ (Shakespeare and Watson 2002, 3). Oliver (1995) identifies two types of models: the individual model, and the social model. While the individual model of disability places the problem of disability on the individuals, the social model views persons with disabilities as able, not disabled, and sees society’s perceptions of disability as the problem. Given the appropriate
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services and programs, individuals with disabilities can contribute to the workplace and thrive. Perhaps the lack of access to services and programs is the problem, and society is the cause of inadequacies this capable and potentially productive group has had to suffer. The social model of disability attempts to empower people with disabilities. In spite of contributions from these three models, our knowledge in and meanings of persons with physical disabilities and their employment experiences need to be examined from a fresh angle using methods from phenomenology, which will be further discussed in Methods.
Methods
Through the phenomenological perspective and interviews, we intended to understand the phenomena of disability and employment experiences as per- ceived by seniors and recent college graduates with disabilities, and thereby fill the gap in the literature. Phenomenology is a philosophy in and of itself that intends to achieve accurate descriptions of phenomena of interest and to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the meaning of lived experiences in the natural attitude (Van Manen 1990). Edmund Husserl is considered the father of phenomenology (Van Manen 1990), and Husserl’s Ideas (1931) intro- duced pure consciousness and intentionality of consciousness in describing and understanding phenomena as well as a much developed concept of Epoche. Influenced by Descartes, Husserl recognized the value of doubt ‘to discover the nature and meaning of things as they appear and in their essence’ (Moustakas 1994, 26).
Phenomenology has two main schools of thought – hermeneutic phenomenol- ogy and transcendental phenomenology (Moerer-Urdhal and Creswell 2004; Moustakas 1994). Hermeneutic phenomenology is ‘the theory and practice of inter- pretation’ (Van Manen 1990, 179), whereas transcendental phenomenology is a design for acquiring and collecting data that describe human experiences. Both phenomenological approaches influenced this study. Hermeneutic theory of inter- pretation served to interpret or explain the lived experiences and perceptions of college students and graduates with disabilities. The transcendental phenomenologi- cal approach allowed us to go back to Husserl’s notion of the systematic reflection on meanings and analysis of the pure phenomena (essence) that appear in acts and intentionality of consciousness. It led us to interpret and reinterpret participants’ poignant testimonies and chronicles through multiple phenomenological data reduc- tion procedures.
Additionally, Alfred Schutz’s critical perspective can shed light on the phenom- ena of lived employment experiences. Schutz (1944), Schutz (1967) established the basics of social phenomenology (or, phenomenological sociology) – to suspend our common beliefs and to understand how human phenomena are experienced in con- sciousness, bracketing socially and culturally influenced knowledge. Through The Stranger: An Essay in Social Psychology, Schultz questioned human practices such as ‘the taken-for-granted assumptions,’ ‘ready-made standardized scheme,’ ‘the reci- pes,’ and ‘thinking as usual’ (1944, 501–505) by which his mundane social phe- nomenology was developed. Thus phenomenological research tends to focus on the description of the essence of human experiences dealing with true and particular phenomena.
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Data collection
The interviews took place at an urban four-year private university located in the mid-Atlantic Region of the USA. We collected data by interviewing eight college seniors and recent graduates with physical disabilities. According to Groenewald (2004), two to 10 participants or research subjects are sufficient to reach saturation.
This study process itself revealed that the director of the disability support office is a gatekeeper for participant database access and selection for each institution. The Disability Services director helped select six students who were recent gradu- ates and two who were seniors. The participant criteria that we presented to the director are a college student with a physical disability, a senior, or a recent gradu- ate. Participating graduates were limited to those who had graduated within the three years preceding the interview period. This provides a time frame similar to that of seniors.
The in-person interviews were held twice following Moustakas’ (1994) method- ological recommendation. They took about 80 minutes for the first round and about 30 minutes for the second round. For the convenience of two participants who were blind, telephone interviews were substituted for the follow-up in-person interviews. Data were digitally recorded for all participants, and interview data were handled by traditional transcription and analysis methods recommended by phenomenologi- cal researchers. Data collection consisted of semi-structured, open-ended interviews. Initial interviews were scheduled during August 2007, and all interviews were com- pleted, transcribed, and coded by the end of 2007. All participants were provided with pseudonyms to maintain confidentiality.
Analysis procedures
Phenomenological approaches allowed us to be reflective and interpretive of the true essence of participants’ experiences with disability and employment. For the phenomenological data analysis, this study mainly followed the systematic analysis process suggested by Clark Moustakas (1994). The procedures included epoche (bracketing), intensive interviews of students with disabilities, identifying significant statements, horizontalization, clustering horizons into themes (coding themes), syn- thesizing themes into a description of individual experiences, and constructing a composite description of the meaning.
The most important phenomenological analysis starts with the epoche process (a process of setting aside predilections, prejudices, and predispositions for deriving new knowledge), suspending the common knowledge or taken-for-granted assump- tions of researchers to acquire true phenomena. Another complex data analysis pro- cedure suggested by Moustakas (1994) and Moerer-Urdahl and Creswell (2004) is constructing three types of narratives influenced by transcendental phenomenology. We applied three types of phenomenological narrative methods for transcribing inter- views: textual (‘what’), structural (‘how’), and textural–structural (composite). This three-step process led us to much reflection and allowed us to better assemble and understand the meaning of each participant’s voice and experiences. For the phenom- enological data reduction process, we used the method of horizontalization – the pro- cess of producing a list of expressions relevant to the phenomena of interest.
After the initial data analysis, we compared themes and perceived phenomena with the literature and models of disability. Data obtained from the interviews were cross-referenced and analyzed to reflect commonalities and differences among
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participants. Each participant reviewed his or her transcript to check for accuracy and to enhance the validity of this research.
Demographic profiles of participants
Table 1 presents the demographic composition and profiles of the participating col- lege students with physical disabilities. This demographic composition is catego- rized by gender, ethnicity, and classification of physical disability. The group was ethnically diverse: five Caucasians, one African American (immigrant), and two Asian Americans. Moreover, two of the participants were college seniors, and the remaining six were recent graduates. Of the five female and three male participants in this study, three males were gainfully employed and two women were employed on a part-time basis.
Among eight participants, six types of disabilities and impairments were identi- fied: two students were blind, one student was deaf–oral, one student was hearing impaired, two students had cerebral palsy, one student had a spinal cord injury, and one student considered herself a little person. Five of the participants were born with a disability and three acquired them. Six were recent graduates, and three were fully employed at the time of the interview. The remaining students worked on a part-time basis or had summer jobs. All three who were fully employed were males who already have a master’s degree in the fields of special education, accounting, or security and policy. The majors of three women graduates were law (two) and film studies. Two of the five women were undergraduate seniors; academic majors were international affairs, geography, and information systems.
Findings and interpretations
Based on analysis of the data, more than 62 disaggregated terms were coded and 24 important categorical expressions were merged, yielding six major thematic areas: disability and impairment; accessibility; reasonable accommodations; discrim- ination; barriers and hindrances; and graduate or professional education. The six thematic areas will be presented in the following. Participants’ rich testimonies and chronicles deepened our understanding of the phenomena of physical disabilities and the participants’ lived employment experiences.
Disability and impairment
College students with disabilities in this study described their perspectives on dis- ability and impairment in ways that parallel the literature on disability. Specifically,
Table 1. Participant profiles.
Disability type Gender Ethnicity Status
Hearing impaired Female Caucasian Graduate (unemployed) Little person Female Caucasian Graduate (unemployed) Cerebral palsy (wheelchair user) Female Caucasian Graduate (unemployed) Cerebral palsy (electric scooter) Female Asian American Senior (unemployed) Blind Male African American Graduate (employed) Spinal cord injury Female Caucasian Senior (unemployed) Blind Male Asian American Graduate (employed) Deaf–oral Male Caucasian Graduate (employed)
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each viewed disability in different ways, suggesting that there is no single way to define it. Participants offered varying personal insights, some depicting disability as a daily occurrence and others describing the physiological aspects of disability.
Our interview data suggest that even within the same college community, stu- dents with disabilities describe disability and impairment with a variety of terms and viewpoints. Nancy said: ‘Disability is painful; it is a beast.’ Joan noted: ‘A dis- ability is a full-time job where it doesn’t go away. It’s 24/7; my job never ends.’ But in contrast, Joan described disability as something to be proud of when she sta- ted: ‘I will be proud to say I have a disability.’
Nancy stated: ‘The fact is that I have a spinal cord injury that doesn’t look pain- ful, but it is a beast.’ During the interview, this participant was in obvious pain. In fact, the interview was stopped briefly for her to take medication. The participant may see her disability as more of a medical issue, with residuals that affect daily activities (her ability to sit for prolonged periods) and work. The findings suggest that disability can be viewed within the context of the Nagi model of disability (Nagi 1965), wherein the conditions of disability are referred to as the ‘pathology or disease process of disability’ (Nagi 1965, 101). As a result of the medical pathol- ogy, each individual experiences functional restrictions and limitations.
The participants freely discussed their limitations and experiences. On occa- sion, students discussed their feelings about how others perceived them, indicating that they felt inadequate or ignored. Nancy spoke about her experiences when she was first injured and had to use a wheelchair. She stated: ‘I felt like every- body was looking at my wheelchair. That’s what I felt like. Instead of listening to me …’ This excerpt provides information on how she felt people viewed her as a person with a physical disability and how they appeared to ignore her. In addition, disability and impairment were portrayed by some individuals as ‘an embarrassment’, ‘I felt inadequate’, or ‘disability is about disclosure.’ This type of self-definition and expression often appears to be similar to the feeling of Schutz’s stranger who encountered a new ‘standardized scheme.’ The following testimonies reflect some awkward feelings about disability disclosure that the par- ticipants share:
I am always sort of not sure how to broach [mention] the whole disabled thing, espe- cially when you’re applying for a position. I still haven’t really figured out how to do that because you don’t want to walk in there and be disabled.
The main thing that I was always concerned about before even applying for these jobs and before going in to meet with these people … I always felt personally like that was important for me to do because I always felt like I wanted them to know ahead of time. The couple of times I did go to an interview and I was in my wheelchair, people were uncomfortable.
The following example suggests an alienation issue among some persons with dis- abilities. Joan’s comments suggest that she does not feel socially accepted by the deaf community or the hearing community:
I’m hearing impaired; I don’t fit in the hearing world and don’t fit in the deaf world. There is a deaf culture, but the deaf society doesn’t want [the] hearing impaired. All my life, I have tried to fit into the hearing world, but you never do.
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Due to her disability, Joan cannot be socially active – as stated:
Disability is a pervasive barrier because I can’t do everything I want to do. So until I completely master my disability, which I have not even come close to, I’m not as out- going or as social as I would be.
These chronicles provide an informed perspective for viewing employment expe- riences and social life. Their future plans and social lives were more or less mixed and suggested in various themes. The Nagi model of disability seems to illuminate the condition of disability and restriction of impairment. Participants’ employment experiences and their social lives are, however, better captured by social phenome- nological concepts (e.g. where or when ‘the taken-for-granted assumption’ or ‘thinking as usual’ does not work) and the social model of disability, probably because their experiences occur mostly in social contexts and are related to multiple interpersonal and organizational dynamics.
Accessibility
The issue of accessibility dominated many of the interviews. Accessibility was asso- ciated with feelings of being limited or at a disadvantage. Accessibility is a major factor affecting the chance to obtain gainful employment. Each participant told a story that illustrated an inability to access workplaces, buildings, and public transpor- tation. One participant in a wheelchair could not enter the interview site building because the building had stairs but no access ramp for a wheelchair: ‘Not being able to find the way into the building … yes, the accessibility.’ The following comments concerning geographic accessibility came from two women with cerebral palsy:
I think the hardest thing for me right now is feeling sort of geographically limited because of my disability. So I am sort of reluctant to move to any other city where I don’t know what’s out there in terms of accessible housing and transportation.
The field I’m going into really requires a lot of international experience, and it is hard for me to find a job in those areas, especially doing field work. It’s hard to find an accessible place where I can do field work.
These testimonies suggest that the usual methods of helping college graduates would not work well due to accessibility and mobility barriers. The above-men- tioned frustrations and testimonies are consistent with the literature on accessibility and fall within the boundaries of the legal interpretation of Section 504 of the fed- eral statute. Section 504 (of the Rehabilitation Act) is intended to offer qualified people with disabilities equal access to programs and services as well as physical accessibility of facilities. Titles I, II, and III of the ADA mandate accessibility in higher education to programs and services as well as facilities (ADA 1990). The availability of equal access for college students with disabilities to conduct a job search or secure gainful employment is predicated on their ability to have full accessibility in all areas of public accommodations.
Reasonable accommodations
The interview data suggest that reasonable accommodations are necessary and critical to allow college students with disabilities to fully participate in employment and
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classroom activities. Most participants were accommodated and felt that people were generally receptive to providing them help. Each participant seemed to agree with the notion that, if given modifications and reasonable accommodations, he or she will be able to fully participate in all activities of classroom-related assignments and employ- ment – a view that is similar to the perspective of the social model of disability.
Diallo provided an example of the denial of reasonable workplace accommoda- tions. Diallo, as a person who is blind, needed a note-taker and an assistive technol- ogy that could allow him to be self-sufficient in the workplace, but his request for a note-taker was denied. He appeared to be dismayed with the accommodation pro- cess at his work as a teacher. His disappointment was captured as follows:
For the past two years, I have been asking for accommodations in the form of a note- taker. I have not gotten any because, you know, while they just assume that since they provide the schools with equipment, we, the teachers, could access that equipment … Last year, two of my colleagues were able to get note-takers, but I didn’t.
Again, reasonable accommodations are vital to the success of college students with disabilities in their academics and employment. Diallo’s case was unusual among the participants, yet it might indicate that workplace situations are to some extent unfriendly to people with disabilities. This accommodation case seems to be consistent with the view of the social model, particularly potential discrimination.
Discrimination
There were different viewpoints and expressions regarding how the participants conceptualized discrimination. Most did not feel discriminated against according to the legal definition or on the basis of their disability. Discrimination, while ‘real’ to some, was not the experience of the majority of participants in this study, although a few felt marginalized, inadequate, or discriminated against due to disability.
In a second interview, however, Joan suggested that the disability community itself discriminated against her through exclusion. While she is not totally deaf, her hearing loss is not substantial enough for her to be considered disabled. Joan con- firmed her feelings of exclusion by the disability community: ‘I don’t fit in the hearing world and don’t fit in the deaf world … I feel like I am on the bottom of the minorities.’ This underscores the poignant feelings about discrimination by those within the disability community and supports the fact that discrimination exists in society at large.
Notably, only two participants (both law school students) seemed somewhat familiar with the ADA and its regulations and protections for students and workers with disabilities. We checked for this knowledge among the participants during our second interviews. The organizations responsible for aiding disabled students might have been negligent in ADA education.
One of these law students also mentioned her first job, where she learned that working for the government sector is easier, an idea consistent with Bruyere’s (2000) report that the public sector tends to provide more accommodations for workers with disabilities. The student indicated:
My first job was great … I worked for a disability organization as an unpaid intern because they did not have the capacity to pay you. I did it for credit and I was going into the legal field and tie in disability law with science and genomics. I have nothing
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bad to say about them; they were great to me. There I learned it was easier to work for the government because they are not supposed to discriminate.
People in the government might make extra efforts to accommodate the needs of workers with disabilities and to respect their human rights, although it is hard to avoid social discrimination completely.
Barriers or hindrances
The participants in this study regarded barriers as anything that prevented them from reaching a career goal. Most responses to the barrier or hindrance question were not directly related to employment barriers. In this study, the list of barriers varied from what some of the participants referred to as hindrances in career choice to the inability to get into a law school due to poor grade point averages (GPA).
Lisa connected barriers to job selection and career direction, not wanting to be ‘pigeon-holed’ into one particular occupational class. Joan connected the concept of barriers to her inability to get into law school with a low GPA. However, several participants felt that struggles to do well in school were due to their disabilities or impairments. Diallo mentioned unique barriers related to his immigration status or cultural adjustment, in addition to his need for an accessible workspace:
I’ve held several jobs, both here and abroad. Let me first of all say, since I am West African, I will describe myself as a recent immigrant to this country. I’ll tell you maybe the initial barriers were training and education that did not relate directly to the American system … learn the American Way, to adapt to the American way of doing things. What I need is an accessible workspace. I need to know if I need stuff moved because it’s too high up.
In sum, most participants appeared to believe their physical disabilities are the most critical barriers preventing them from achieving their ambitions. Several par- ticipants, especially women, were not fully engaged in gainful employment. Gender and parental income might be important factors for the transitional pattern from higher education to workplace. Other external barriers overlapped those for accessi- bility discussed before.
Graduate or professional education
Surprisingly, all participants mentioned that advanced educational attainment was their major concern rather than a job search after graduation. Lisa, a little person, stated: ‘I am in graduate school in California majoring in film.’ Joan, who is hear- ing impaired, and Janet, who has cerebral palsy, are currently in two different law schools. Joan stated that after her master’s program she went to a PhD program in genetics; however, she finally ended up in law school. Diallo, who is blind, has two master’s degrees. Vishnu, also blind, stated: ‘I have a master’s of accounting.’ Jack, classified as deaf–oral, stated that he had a master’s degree in security and policy. Two seniors, Mei, with cerebral palsy, and Nancy, who has a spinal cord injury, plan to attend graduate school after completion of their undergraduate programs.
Mei stated that her ability to participate in jobs or other programs depended on her going beyond undergraduate school. She said: ‘My major is in international development studies and … it’s definitely a field where you need at least a master’s
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degree.’ Nancy corroborated the necessity of the advanced degree when she said: ‘In some respect, I think that your education is a job, you know especially if you’re a newly disabled spinal cord patient who needs to change life.’
There was no difference between seniors and recent graduates in their belief that earning an advanced degree would be valuable in obtaining gainful employment. Five participants at the time of the study were engaged in graduate studies or had completed a graduate degree. Three of six graduates had full-time jobs, and all three had one or two master’s degrees when the interview was held. Some participants appeared to delay employment due to a sense of security and comfort in the educa- tional environment that might not carry over to the workplace. All of the partici- pants, however, implied or stated that their aspirations to do well in society and their ability to seek upward mobility are firmly based in advanced educational opportunities beyond the baccalaureate. Analysis of the findings suggests that earn- ing the highest degree possible is significant for a person with a disability, as this offers them an enhanced qualification and opportunity for securing employment in the competitive labor market.
To supplement our research, we asked about their experiences with career ser- vices to obtain educational interventional insights related to students and graduates with physical disabilities. More than one-half of the participants indicated that they had been to the university career services center, but their experience with career ser- vices was limited and they did not receive a wealth of assistance. Several participants indicated that their professors or the Disability Support Services (DSS) director were more helpful with their job search than the career center. In addition, a few graduates with disabilities recognized that networking and personal contacts are important in conducting a job search.
Discussion and conclusion
This study searched for the phenomena of lived employment experiences of seniors and recent college graduates with physical disabilities seeking their transition from college to work, employing their own testimonies. Some of our findings are consis- tent with the previous literature. Below we highlight and discuss major findings and educational implications.
The intensive and repeated interviews revealed their physical pain, their frustration with society, their successes, their failures, and their burning need to be accepted just like everyone else. Participants see their physical disabilities as the biggest challenge in their lives and a restriction on their career choices and opportu- nities. All participants noted that workplace accessibility and accommodation are major concerns when they apply for a job. Their viewpoints or attitudes are not monolithic and range from pain to pride and from experiences of denied accommo- dation to support.
Their testimonies revealed severe frustration and anger, and we repeatedly heard words such as ‘pain,’ ‘barrier,’ ‘embarrassment,’ ‘full-time job,’ and ‘24/ 7.’ Even among participants with the same type of physical disability, the symp- toms, severity, and the person’s needs varied. Notably, the three participants who acquired disabilities had difficulties in adjusting to their new world and new identity and tended to be angrier than those born with them. Their indescribable pains, hurdles, and strengths were conveyed during our interviews and analysis processes.
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All participants expressed enthusiasm when talking about employment searches and career opportunities, despite the accompanying frustrations, anger, and pain. Moreover, they said they wanted to contribute to society. Consistent with the perspective of the social model (Oliver 1995), several claimed that they could do well as long as the necessary access and accommodations are pro- vided.
Notwithstanding the findings of previous literature that a college degree leads to employment after graduation, the finding of this study suggested that employment immediately after college may not be an immediate goal for some students with disabilities. Participants agreed that an advanced degree is very important to enhance their employment opportunities. Continuance of education was the next logical step in their planning, rather than seeking gainful employment. This interesting phenomenon might be related to our society’s increasing demand for educational credentials, highly specialized or professionalized jobs, and/or the sam- pling of this study at a private university whose tuition and fees are much higher than those of surrounding public universities.
While all male graduates obtained master’s degrees and were employed on a full-time basis, no female participant was fully employed. Although the sample is limited, this observation may be related to the double-discrimination situation of women with disabilities (Traustadottir 1990). Future studies should examine whether students with disabilities gain a special advantage through college or graduate degrees and how gender or racial minority status influences prospects for employment.
Most participants felt social discrimination, and a few expressed discouragement with the system as they tried to secure access accommodations in the workplace. Although they seldom experienced overt discrimination in a legal sense, the current study’s findings did substantiate a need for the participants to have a more compre- hensive knowledge about the ADA and its employment provisions. The participants, while familiar with the academic accommodations provided under law, appeared to be limited in their knowledge about the ADA and how the same statute provides academic accommodations and employment protections. Higher education institu- tions should raise the awareness of ADA as part of career preparation or employ- ment training for students with disabilities.
In conclusion, phenomenological analysis demonstrates that the taken-for- granted assumptions and knowledge about employment experiences for persons without disabilities do not work; indeed, they often ill-serve or cause more frustrations for students and graduates with physical disabilities. Testimonials of the participants were consistent with Aune and Kroeger (1997) and Fonosch et al. (1982), who suggest that career services providers are not adequately equipped to advise college students with disabilities. Recent graduates with dis- abilities, however, noted that they received good career advice from professors as well as from their campus disability support services. Perhaps, collaborative efforts among career service centers, disability support centers, and academic units could enhance career planning and gainful employment for students with disabilities. College campuses should be encouraged to work together to help each of our undergraduate and graduate students — including our marginalized population with physical disabilities – to develop their talents and potential to their full capacities.
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Acknowledgements The authors made comparable contributions to this article; author names are alphabetically listed. They acknowledge the helpful comments of anonymous reviewers.
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