Disability in Workplace

Definition of Disability

Disabilities, as defined by the World Health Organisation, is “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions.” In this case, Impairment being a problem of body function and structure, activity limitation being the difficulties experienced by individuals in performing tasks or actions in their life, and lastly, participation restriction is the restricted involvement experienced by individuals in their life.

Disability as a Social Construct?

Individuals believe that good health; no impairments, disabilities, and sickness, are considered as “normal” and constructed this perspective as the norm . Leading individuals with disabilities to fall outside the boundary of what is considered acceptable. Their disabilities are considered as different and abnormal, leading individuals to relate it to a negative concept causing it to be stigmatized. Effecting disabled individuals by making them feel separated as they are treated differently and labeled due to what they have. In Aimee Mullen case, she was tied to the identity of “disabled” because the way individuals are socialized. The norm cause individuals to be censored and taught since young that disabled individuals are different. However, without this socialization, children are open to see her as “somebody who had potential their bodies didn’t have”.

What is Discrimination in The Concept of Disability?

Discrimination against individuals with disability often links to the concept of “Ableism”. Ableism is considered as the attitudes of the society where they favor the individuals who are “able” or considered as “normal” while devaluing and limiting the potential of those with disabilities. This leads to negative stigma, stereotyping, harmful attitudes, and the process of othering or alienation of individuals with a disability. Thus, creating obstacles in the daily life of the individual with disabilities, limiting their capability as a person due to the fear and treatment they received from other individuals.

Challenges Face by Individual with Disabilities in The Workplace

Individuals face challenges of being alienated from his or her capacities as human, where this links to the fact that the perception of disability limit individuals with disability in realizing and performing their true potential in the workforce. This is because of the obstacles in presenting their skills cause by their disability and the stigma of being disabled which create challenges for others in seeing or looking at them on their true potential. Leading many work colleagues and employers to have a perception that disability must result in inferior performance . Their ability to work is clouded by their “disability”, therefore, they are restrained and taken away from the opportunity to work. “It’s harder to look for a job… ‘How do I get this person past the fact that I am in a wheelchair and to focus on my skills and qualifications?” This particular quote shows that being an individual with disability place them at a disadvantage against others and that employers and their colleagues will always focus on their disability. Thus, in the workplace, they are not only defined by their skills and their work, but they are defined by their disabilities

Furthermore, disabled individuals can face the problem of being excluded as their disabilities play a role in deviating them from the able-bodied of their colleagues. The stigma and preconceived notions that exist around their disability can also prevent their colleagues from understanding the real condition that the disabled individuals are in. A disability such as hearing loss, where it affects good interpersonal relationship as it reduces interaction among colleagues because it does not allow disabled individual and their coworkers to engage in discussion Thus, leading workers to have a problem relating to one another.

Influence of Gender on Individuals with Disabilities

Women with Disabilities

Being a woman with disability in the society where being a “women” and “disabled” has its own stigma can create multiple perceptions which interconnect and leads to the experiences of multiples obstacles and hardness in everyday life. For example, a situation where a male colleague says he is more capable in taking care of a client because he is “abled” comparing to a disabled woman whose health and personal problems can limit her from performing the task. This shows that the problem of gender stereotypes also exist with women with disability. Therefore, a woman with disability also face the problem of preconceived notion of being a women which result in dual discrimination where they are perceived to need more help than men with a disability. As women without disability already have employment rates of 28% lower than men with disability and that women with disabilities were less likely to be employed than women without disabilities. This lead to fear of losing jobs and being replaced when they show signs of weakness such as not being able to do a task which can lead to the questioning of their capability as an employee by themselves and others.

Men with Disabilities

Being men with disability seems to have more advantages than women with disability. This is support by the employment rate where men have a rate of 59.9% while women have a rate of 45.7%. This shows that men with disability are more likely to be employed in the workplace than women with disability. Furthermore, it is also found that the earning of women with disability in a full-time job is only 65% of men with disability despite the women being better educated. This represents the gender differences in the workplace for individuals with disabilities, portraying a form of inequality among the two genders. However, another aspect is that men are more affects by the family composition where they are socialized to be the leader of the family. Thus, this factor influences them to be pressured to remain in the workforce while women are more likely to leave the labor force., leading them to face more negative experiences from the workplace.

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