Author: Sean McEwen; Director RealEyes Capacity
What would you think about an employer or recruiter who held the following beliefs—not about a specific member of a 'diversity group' whom they had met—but rather about the entire diversity group?
"These people are just not as productive. They’re not capable." Or, "We don’t believe they have the skills and competencies we need." Or, "Our workplace wouldn’t be a good fit for them psychologically, or even physically. Other employees will have bias against them because they’re a stigmatized group. This would make hiring them problematic for us."
These sentiments are taken from a 2021 national survey of Canadian HR professionals exploring perceived 'barriers to employment' for people with disabilities, a group that constitutes 27% of our working-age population.
My intention here is not to disparage Human Resource professionals, whose contributions to workforce development are valuable and varied. Rather, it is to illustrate how the most significant 'barriers to employment' for job seekers with disabilities often stem from the uninformed beliefs and attitudes held by those in recruitment roles.
The word 'disability' itself invites bias because it grossly simplifies an extremely wide range of conditions with which most employers are unfamiliar. There are currently over 200 known mental health conditions, hundreds of medical disabilities, and countless others associated with physical mobility, hearing or vision loss, communication and learning, or cognitive functioning. Moreover, every disability occurs along a severity scale unique to the individual. In short, disability is as diverse as humanity. A person with a disability can be a professional athlete, a helicopter pilot—or they can hold a PhD in theoretical physics.
The prejudicial belief that candidates with disabilities are 'lesser than' other candidates is ableism, and it's time we acknowledge it. Ableism is an issue that workforce development professionals need to confront and discuss if we hope to reduce discrimination against over one quarter of working-age Canadians, and effectively access their talents.
Disability discrimination (ableism) is a societal issue perpetuated by 'cultural persistence'—the tendency to hold on to beliefs, customs, and traits, even when they are revealed as invalid. For over 200 years, the low social value and status of people with disabilities have resulted in profound discrimination at societal and policy levels. In the U.K. and the U.S., imprisonment or forced labor in workhouses was common for unemployed people with disabilities. In Canada, institutionalization and eugenics were commonplace until the 1970s. The Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928, (AB and BC) made the country a world leader in eugenics (forced sterilization) until the act was repealed in 1973.
Stigma is defined as the co-occurrence of labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination in a context where unequal power is exercised. A 2024 study on the persistence of stigma found "deep stability" in disability-related stigmas between 1900 and 2000, meaning these negative beliefs endured unchanged for over a century.
The impact of persistent ableist beliefs is clear. People with disabilities face an employment participation rate that is at least 20% lower than the rest of the population, and when employed, they earn 15% less. Beyond these inequities, Canada is facing a looming labor supply crisis. With up to 25% of Canada’s workforce aging out by 2035, and a critical need for sustainable workforce strategies across the country, how can any employer afford to overlook this diverse and talented group?
Having developed and directed employment services for job seekers with disabilities for 25 years, I have witnessed recruitment and retention success rates that rival those of any other demographic group. What I’ve learned is that social bias and systemic accessibility barriers are the issues that 'dis-able' people from accessing employment opportunities.
What Can We Do to Move From Bias to Inclusion?
Learning that we may not be as unbiased and inclusive as we thought can create discomfort, also known as ‘cognitive dissonance.’ We can do 1 of 2 things with this discomfort; deny the information and derail the dialogue with ‘alternative facts’ – or – we can integrate the new information and adapt our behaviour. Recognizing that people can face barriers with which we’re unfamiliar, and seeking to understand and mitigate those barriers is an equity-based mindset that works for all diversity groups.
- Create clear ‘Inclusive Workplace Statement’ including disability
- Create user-friendly Workplace Accommodation Policies/Procedures
- Disrupt ‘status quo recruitment’ (interview alternatives, skills-based hiring, etc.)
- Increase disability awareness – and embed in manager performance evaluations
- Utilize training plans and mentors to facilitate social learning and inclusion
- Learn about Inclusive Design, and address systemic accessibility issues
- Ensure equitable access to workplace benefits, training and advancement
- Collaborate with publicly-funded ‘disability-employment’ service providers
- Inclusive leadership training helps managers support ALL team members better
- Access and implement a workplace psychological health and safety framework
Companies need to turn a profit, and there is a clear link between innovation, creativity, resilience and profit when it comes to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. Diversity isn’t merely a resource to be extracted, however, and ‘performative inclusion’ initiatives are as transparent as the new windshield on the CEO’s Mecedes. Diversity is about valuing the little things that make us different while respecting the big things that make us the same, our humanity, and our desire to be included as a member of a community. So, above all – ensure that your inclusion efforts will unfold in a manner that demonstrates the genuine belief that disability is a type of diversity that is valued within your workplace culture.
Sean McEwen – Oh’skoipiiksi (he/him) is a workplace equity, diversity, inclusion and culture consultant and a founder/senior director at RealEyes Capacity Consultants.
Charlesworth, T. Hatzenbuehler, M. Mechanisms upholding the persistence of stigma across 100 years of historical text. (May 14, 2024)
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