Davies, Jade;
Heasman, Brett;
Livesey, Adam;
Walker, Amy;
Pellicano, Elizabeth;
Remington, Anna;
(2023)
Access to employment: A comparison of autistic, neurodivergent and neurotypical adults’ experiences of hiring processes in the United Kingdom.
Autism
10.1177/13623613221145377.
(In press).
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Abstract
Autistic people are less likely to have a job than non-autistic people. One reason for this may be that hiring processes (e.g. job applications, interviews) can be challenging for autistic people. To better understand the experiences of hiring processes in the United Kingdom, we asked 225 autistic, 64 neurodivergent (but not autistic) and 64 adults with no reported area of neurodivergence questions about their experiences using an online survey. We found a range of similarities and differences in responses. For example, participants in all three groups were frustrated with the focus on social skills in recruitment and said they wanted more practical methods (e.g. work trials) that help them show their skills and abilities. Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent participants discussed the importance of the environment (e.g. the interview/assessment room) in improving experiences. Participants also discussed how employers can impact whether somebody decides to disclose their diagnosis or needs - or not. Autistic people experienced some barriers to successful recruitment that non-autistic people did not. For example, autistic people felt they had to hide their autistic traits to gain employment and many autistic people were worried about being discriminated against if they disclosed that they were autistic during the hiring process. To make experiences better, our participants said that employers should offer candidates different recruitment methods and give them more information about the hiring process. They also said employers should improve their understanding of autism and other hidden disabilities so they know the challenges that people might face during recruitment.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Access to employment: A comparison of autistic, neurodivergent and neurotypical adults’ experiences of hiring processes in the United Kingdom |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1177/13623613221145377 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221145377 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
| Keywords: | adulthood, autism, employment, recruitment |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10163039 |
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