The Barriers to Employment faced by Disabled People

There is much talk about the disability employment gap and its causes. At Evenbreak, we wanted to find out from the real experts (disabled job seekers themselves) what barriers prevent disabled people from gaining work. 

Understanding the Disability Employment Gap

People on the Enactus programme at UCL conducted research on our behalf. They received an overwhelming response from more than 700 disabled participants, giving compelling evidence into the real barriers to employment faced by disabled people.

Finding Disability-Friendly Employers

By far, the most significant issue for disabled candidates is finding employers that they feel confident to apply to. Over 82% of respondents said that their most pressing problem was finding truly disability-friendly employers. Whilst many employers describe themselves as ‘equal opportunities employers’, this was rarely borne out in practice, particularly in relation to disability. And 71% of respondents rated employers poorly when it came to empathy and understanding around disability.

Recruitment Processes that Exclude

The second biggest barrier identified was a lack of confidence in the recruitment process, including a fear of the process being biased or discriminatory throughout. Candidates felt their opportunities to demonstrate their qualities and skills were limited. This included a lack of offering adjustments (which were rarely mentioned in job adverts), relying on CVs and work experience when their opportunities may have been limited, and the nature of interviews (50% said the face-to-face interview was their biggest barrier, with 75% regularly experiencing an obvious lack of interest from interviewers. Read more about Attitudes Around Disability.

Internalised Ableism

Lack of confidence in their own abilities appeared to be the third biggest barrier, including concerns about how employers might perceive them.

What Employers Can Do to Remove Barriers

Broadly what this research demonstrates is that there are many ways that employers can remove barriers for disabled people, and some are quite easy. Ensuring that disabled candidates know that employers are serious about their talent is important, and there is a clear need for recruitment processes to be more inclusive and accessible.

“Nothing About Us, Without Us”

One of the enduring mantras in the world of disability is “nothing about us, without us”. This makes perfect sense – why would non-disabled people try to second-guess what works for disabled people? It’s the reason Evenbreak only employs disabled people, and it’s the reason Evenbreak commissioned this research. 

Closing the Disability Employment Gap

Now the barriers to employment faced by disabled people are known, it’s time we all work together to remove them. Are you in?

Find out how to make your organisation more inclusive.

Email me on janeh@evenbreak.co.uk if you would like a copy of the research findings.