University of Leeds
School of Sociology and Social Policy
Betul Yalcin
PROJECT BACKGROUND
FP7
RESAERCH
Marie Curie Initial Training NetworkDisability Rights Expanding
Accessible Markets (DREAM)
Active Labour Market Policies for Disabled People: A Comparative
Analysis of the European Union Member States
Supervisors: Prof. Mark Priestley and Anna Lawson
AIM
To identify how states can better promote the employment of
disabled people in open labour market
University of Leeds
School of Sociology and Social Policy
Betul Yalcin
TODAY’S PRESENTATION
1
General patterns in employer’s views on employment of disabled people
2
Individual and country level factors that lead to differentiation
3
Employers’ view and experiences: actual employment context
(Ireland)
Employer’s Views on Employment of Disabled People
A Comparative Analysis in the EU Context
DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS
Employers’ responses to given statements
Disagreement
When a company wants to hire someone and has the choice between two candidates with 58.7
equal skills and qualifications, which of the following criteria may in your opinion, put one
candidate at a disadvantage_ disability_
Agreement
41.3
Do you think that economic crises is contributing to an increase in discrimination in the 40.4
labour market on the basis of _disability_ in the labour market’
59.6
Do you think that enough is being done to promote diversity in your work place as far as _ 46.2
disability_ is concerned?
53.8
To what extent do you support or oppose to_ training on diversity issues for employees 15.1
and employers_ in the work place to foster diversity
84.9
To what extent do you support or oppose to_ monitoring composition of the work-force to 27.7
evaluate the representation of groups at risk of discrimination’_ in the work place to foster
diversity
72.3
To what extent do you support or oppose to_ monitoring recruitment procedures to 17.9
ensure that candidates from groups at risk of discrimination have the same opportunities
as other candidates with similar skills and qualifications’_ in the work place to foster
diversity
82.1
Employer’s Views on Employment of Disabled People
A Comparative Analysis in the EU Context
LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS
Individual Level
Factors
Country Level
Factors
•
No influence of social level, subjective health condition educational
attainment level
•
Employers who are older, female, have no familiarity with disabled
people, hold right wing political orientation are less likely to see
disability as a discriminatory factor compared to employers who are
younger, male, leftist, and have familiarity with disability.
• Employers in liberal regimes were 65% less likely to see disability as
a disadvantage in the labour market when compared to those in
social democrat welfare states.
• Employers in countries where a quota system applies to both private
and public sector were 49% less likely to see disability as a
disadvantage compared to countries with no quota system
Employer’s Views on Employment of Disabled People
A Comparative Analysis in the EU Context
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
VN76A ‘you do not want to treat them differently; you want to treat them fairly.’
VN80 ‘if they want to live a proper life, they have to take responsibility. The responsibility
that they never take care of’
VN72 ‘there is no point in giving them jobs just for the sake of giving jobs. I mean, they have
to be real jobs’.
VN80 ’they do (get on well with co workers), that is the problem. They have to understand
that this is a work place, it is not a place for chatting with friends’
VN79 ’staff do not see his disability. They get frustrated with him and with me’
VN79 ‘Not only because of their disability, but because of the liability that comes with
worry…The problem is where this (legal) responsibility lies’.
VN80 ‘even if I train her as a waitress …when the table is rude, she will spill a glass of water
on them’.
VN79 ‘It was his job and you have to get another employee to go on fix it or actually doing
it.. Frustrations of cost and productivity there’
VN80 ‘ We are in recession, it is all about the money… you know’
Employer’s Views on Employment of Disabled People
A Comparative Analysis in the EU Context
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Training programs for employers and employees to promote diversity in the work places should be
devised.
• Establishing monitoring mechanisms to evaluate the diversity within workforce and the recruitment
phase should be considered.
• Supported employment organizations should be allocated more financial and human resources.
• Result of present analysis should be considered when constructing awareness raising and
intervention programs.
• Countries that are governed by liberal welfare systems, and countries that employ private and public
quota systems, are advised to place a focus on increasing awareness on diversity issues.
• Combining descriptive statistics and logistic regression for the analysis should be considered by
future attitude researches .
Employer’s Views on Employment of Disabled People
A Comparative Analysis in the EU Context
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Email: B.Yalcin@leeds.ac.uk; betulyn@gmail.com