Research Brief: Employer Practices and the Employment of People with Disabilities: Scoping the Literature

Abstract

Much of the literature about disability employment aimed at employers has consisted of checklists and recommendations of best practices that are loosely based on academic theories of diversity but lack research-based evidence of their efficacy. Little measurement has been done to determine whether the identified practices show real-world promise in improving employment rates for people with disabilities. As Kreitz (2008) says many of these articles “Rely on brief case studies or anecdotal stories” and are not based in research.” The experimental research that has been done has been heavily focused on the perception of and beliefs about applicants and employees with disabilities and attitudes towards disability itself. To address this information gap, in 2010 the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) issued an RFP for a national-level Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices related to employment outcomes among individuals with disabilities. NIDRR noted: “obtaining empirical data about actual employer practices, and further investigating the extent to which these practices are associated with employment for individuals with disabilities, would inform the development of interventions to improve the number and diversity of employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.”