People with Disabilities in the Workplace

People with disabilities are underrepresented in the workplace. Statistics Canada¹ reported in 2022 that 65.5% of men with a disability were employed, versus 83.7% without a disability. For women the proportion was lower: only 64.9% with a disability were employed, versus 76.2% without. This is largely due to existing bias (whether unconscious or conscious) and stigmatization.

While some disabilities are significant enough to prevent individuals from working, many people with disabilities can work, want to work and have valuable and highly sought-after workplace skills they can contribute.

Even when they do manage to get hired, people with disabilities frequently find themselves underemployed.² This means that while they may have a job, it does not draw on their personal skillset. They may also receive lower pay, with fewer opportunities for advancement. Why does this happen? Because employers often fail to see the capabilities of people with disabilities or the value they bring.

Common Misconceptions

There are many misconceptions surrounding employing individuals with disabilities. In fact, some people prefer the terms "diverse abilities" or "differently abled" because this shifts the focus from inability to ability. Here are some common misconceptions, contrasted with reality-based data:³

MythIt costs too much to accommodate employees with disabilities.FactNot all employees with disabilities will require accommodations. Even if they do, 58% of accommodations will cost nothing while 37% will involve a one-time expense of $500.
MythEmployees with disabilities take too many sick days.FactStudies show that 86% of employees with disabilities have similar or better attendance records than those without.
MythEmployees with disabilities don’t perform as well as other employees.Fact90% perform the same or better than their coworkers without disabilities.

Defining Unconscious Bias

Unconscious bias is an automatic mental shortcut that helps us to process the approximately 11 million bits of information we receive each second. Our conscious minds can only handle about 40 or 50 pieces of information.⁴ Sometimes, unconscious bias is good and helps to keep us safe; on other occasions, it can get in the way of good decision-making.

The University of Victoria provides this definition: "The term 'bias' (also 'implicit bias' and 'unconscious bias') refers to the unconscious assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and stereotypes that human brains have about different groups. These learned mental short-cuts affect how we perceive and respond to people."⁵

Fast Facts About Unconscious Bias

Everyone has unconscious bias.
Unconscious bias can be activated within a fraction of a second.
We can hold biases that go against our beliefs.
Biases are generally shared within social groups, though people may also have biases favouring people who share their identities.
Biases may be persistent but can be changed with attention and effort.

Having unconscious bias doesn’t make us bad people – it merely makes us human. In the words of best-selling author Dr. Joan Borysenko, “Rather than thinking in terms of good and bad, it is more helpful to think in terms of conscious and unconscious, aware and unaware.”

How Unconscious and Conscious Beliefs are Shaped

Our beliefs and biases are influenced by many factors. Here are few examples:⁶

Where and how we were raised, our religious and spiritual beliefs, cultural norms within our communities, our social environment.
Our past experiences with people from different diversity groups.
The messages we receive from media, whether traditional forms such as TV news and newspapers, as well as social media.

Making the Unconscious Conscious (Recognizing Our Own Biases)

Take a moment to reflect on your own attitudes. To determine whether you hold any unconscious biases towards people with disabilities, ask yourself the following questions:⁷

When you think of a person with a disability, do you focus on the things they can do or the things they cannot do? Where do you get the information on which you base your views?
Can you imagine a person with a disability working in financial services? If not, why not?
When you think of a person with a disability, do you have empathy for them or do you feel pity?
Do you believe that the lives of individuals with disabilities are different from the lives of those without? If so, how are their lives different?
Do you use terms like “handicapped” and “normal” to differentiate between people with disabilities and those without?
Do you speak to and interact with people with disabilities differently? If so, how and why?
Do you perceive people with disabilities as dependent or in need of assistance? Do you base your beliefs on personal experiences or on other sources? If the latter, which sources?
Do you perceive employees with disabilities to be as productive or competent as those without? If so, why?
Do you think that employees with disabilities receive special advantages or are held to a lower standard?
Do you think employees with disabilities who receive reasonable accommodations are given special treatment or an unfair advantage?

Changing Our Perceptions (Increasing Exposure to Biases)

Here’s some very good news: we can counter any biases we may have by increasing our exposure to positive examples and by learning more.

Read a memoir about a person who is neurodivergent.
Watch a documentary about wheelchair athletes.
Listen to a podcast about mental illness.
Read a book about a person with a visual disability.
Expand your social circle or the people you usually take your breaks with at work to include people with disabilities.

Avoiding Unconscious Bias Pitfalls in Hiring

As you prepare to interview candidates, consider how you can mitigate the unconscious biases we all hold that often impact hiring decisions. Could the following examples of bias commonly found in the hiring process impact your own decision-making?

Afinity biasA tendency to favour people who are like us, often resulting in homogenous teams and groupthink.
Confirmation biasHappens when we seek to confirm our beliefs, preferences or judgements while ignoring contradictory evidence.
Halo effectOccurs when we like someone and prefer to think everything about them is good.
Conformity biasThe tendency to agree with the majority or with a higher-ranking person to maintain harmony.

Screening Candidates

In addition to casting a wider net with your sourcing strategy, you can increase job applicant diversity by intentionally "screening in" diverse candidates where the pipeline is the largest, i.e. at the application stage. Simply provide an opportunity for applicants to voluntarily disclose if they self-identify as members of one of four designated diversity groups.

Note: Don't do this if you have to rely on guesswork to determine whether an applicant is a member of a diversity group.

Once you have a shortlist that encompasses individuals who self-disclosed that they have a disability (i.e. they were consciously included by you), then you can review their resumes and determine whether they meet the relevant criteria. If they don’t, you can decline their application. Remember, this is about hiring talented, skilled people; it’s not about meeting quotas or hiring anyone unqualified.

Taking a Closer Look: Enhancing Your Shortlist Evaluation

When reviewing your shortlist, consider how conscious and unconscious bias may influence your opinion. In addition to the required knowledge, skills, abilities and attributes, consider the following factors:

Qualifications and Education: Do candidates have the required level of education and/or qualifications? If they have insufficient or excessive qualifications, are they still a viable candidate?
Occupational Requirements: Do the candidates meet some or all of the bona fide occupational requirements (BFORs)? If they do not meet all the requirements, do they have a mix of education, practical experience and transferrable skills that could make them successful in the position?
Future Potential: Are you considering the potential of each candidate, and the future skills and requirements needed for the role and by the organization?
Diversity and Inclusion: How diverse are the individuals they will be interacting and working with? Consider whether candidates could improve the diversity of thought, background and experience of their peer group, direct reports and overall team because of the diversity they bring (the answer is almost always yes!).
Culture Add vs. Culture Fit⁸: Are you evaluating candidates in terms of how they can add to the existing culture rather than just fitting in?
Conscious and Unconscious Criteria: Which criteria have you consciously prioritized (e.g. financial sector or customer service experience) and which ones may be unintentional or unconscious (e.g. likeability)?

Bias Interrupters in Hiring

The following bias interrupters may help you to mitigate the impact of unconscious bias during the candidate selection and interview processes:

Acknowledge Unconscious Bias: Recognize that we all have unconscious biases. Some of them serve us well, while others could create blind spots or contribute to incorrect assumptions we make about candidates.
Embed Bias Mitigation: Build bias mitigating practices into each step of the attraction, recruitment and selection processes.
Adopt Deliberate Thinking: To move from intuitive to deliberate thinking, slow down your deliberations, decision-making and other processes.
Challenge Biases: Actively question yourself and others on any biases that may influence your interactions and how you perceive and evaluate candidates.
Broaden Exposure: Seek out and engage with perspectives and experiences that differ from your own to increase your awareness of various biases.
Employ Inclusive Language: Use inclusive language in communications with candidates and in hiring committee interactions.

ACME

Tool #1: Unconscious Bias and Hiring People with Disabilities