Career Construction and Work Inclusion of People with Disabilities: Goal Setting

Today, the quality of human capital and active involvement of the disadvantaged people into socioeconomic and political life are the main challenges for the Russian Federation as it is going through another round of modernization. Despite the government allowances, the disadvantaged groups have no motivation to improve their human capital assets and to construct own career. In the paper, we propose the project that aims at impacting the wellbeing of the disadvantaged social groups. We will study the traditional and emerging structural forms of inequality in the context of complicated social reality and an increased rate of social changes, to identify the factors that improve or affect career construction and quality of life of every disadvantaged social group. Referring to career theoretical models and variables, a set of qualitative and quantitative measures will be used to assess strengths and weaknesses of involved people and to better understand relations among variables. These research results allow us to develop and implement career intervention programs aimed at improving people resources and facilitating career and life constructions, as well as social and work participation. These interventions will be devoted both to people with disabilities and their significant others

Career Construction and Work Inclusion of People with Disabilities: Goal Setting

Today, the quality of human capital and active involvement of the disadvantaged people into socioeconomic and political life are the main challenges for the Russian Federation as it is going through another round of modernization. Despite the government allowances, the disadvantaged groups have no motivation to improve their human capital assets and to construct own career. In the paper, we propose the project that aims at impacting the wellbeing of the disadvantaged social groups. We will study the traditional and emerging structural forms of inequality in the context of complicated social reality and an increased rate of social changes, to identify the factors that improve or affect career construction and quality of life of every disadvantaged social group. Referring to career theoretical models and variables, a set of qualitative and quantitative measures will be used to assess strengths and weaknesses of involved people and to better understand relations among variables. These research results allow us to develop and implement career intervention programs aimed at improving people resources and facilitating career and life constructions, as well as social and work participation. These interventions will be devoted both to people with disabilities and their significant others

Social Innovation for Work Inclusion – Contributions of Swedish Third Sector Organizations

The innovative contributions of third sector organizations (TSOs) to tackle work-related societal challenges are increasingly acknowledged in policy and research, but rarely in Nordic working life studies. The article helps fill this knowledge gap by an empirical mapping of efforts by Swedish TSOs to promote work inclusion among people considered disadvantaged in the regular labor market, due to age, disabilities, origin, etc. Previous studies of social innovation help distinguish their innovativeness in terms of alternative or complementary ways to perceive and promote work inclusion in regard to Swedish labor market policies. By combining various measures for providing and preparing work opportunities, addressing their participants through individualistic and holistic approaches, and managing work inclusion by varying organization, funding, and alliances, the mapped cases seem to innovatively compensate for government and market failures in the work inclusion domain to some extent, while also being limited by their own voluntary failures

Building better futures : decent work, inclusion and careers support services in the UK

The concepts of decent work, inclusion and supporting individuals to find pathways to learning and work opportunities present new opportunities and real challenges. Job security, roles and labour markets are changing rapidly. We focus on how the UK careers support landscape in each of the four home nations is changing in response to the pandemic. We argue that the quasi-market, experimental approach to careers provision in England has significantly weakened young people’s access to professionally-trained advisers. We outline a 'spaces and places paradigm' to reframe careers support in transformative ways. Our results show fragmented policies in England will not create the level of support needed by individuals, particularly those most vulnerable in the aftermath of Covid-19, to build better futures for themselves

Work inclusion of people with disabilities: a communication study

Este estudo buscou compreender o processo de comunicação entre pessoas com e sem deficiência no contexto de trabalho e, a partir disso, descrever a comunicação como uma dimensão a ser considerada para a construção de um clima organizacional facilitador da inclusão. Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória descritiva com abordagem qualitativa. Participaram do estudo nove trabalhadores com deficiência. Os dados foram coletados por entrevistas semiestruturadas e analisados de acordo com o método de análise de conteúdo temática. Foram elencadas quatro categorias analíticas que permitiram aprofundar o conhecimento sobre as dinâmicas de comunicação e de inclusão/exclusão, sendo elas: cotidiano de trabalho, processo seletivo, barreiras para permanência no trabalho, e engajamento no trabalho. Esta pesquisa constatou que os desafios para a inclusão no mercado de trabalho permanecem e apontou a comunicação como um componente a ser considerado no processo. A comunicação é uma ferramenta estratégica para a inclusão das pessoas com deficiência no trabalho, mas que ainda persistem barreiras que precisam ser superadas e facilitadores que podem ser potencializados.This study aims to understand the process of communication between people with and without disabilities in the workplace and, from that, describe communication as a dimension to be considered in the construction of an inclusive organizational climate. This is an exploratory descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Nine workers with disabilities participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed according to the to the method of content analysis. Four analytical categories were listed that allowed a deeper understanding about the dynamics of communication and inclusion/exclusion, namely: daily work, selection process, barriers to the permanence at work and work engagement. This research has evidenced that the challenges for inclusion in the labor market remain and referred to communication as a component to be considered in the process. Communication is a strategic tool for the inclusion of people with disabilities at work, but there are still barriers that need to be overcome and facilitators that can be potentialized

Evaluating consumer perceptions of social farming through choice modelling

This study aims to analyse consumer attitudes and to value their willingness to pay a premium price for ethical food from social farming by applying discrete choice experiment methodology. Two real products, zucchini and eggs, that were cultivated in an organic social farm with work inclusion by people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were considered. We relied on these two products due to their different origins (vegetal and animal) and, in the case of eggs, to compare the willingness to pay for social farming and the preservation of animal welfare. We collected 255 complete questionnaires, and our results show that respondents have a positive willingness to pay for both products if they are obtained with the work inclusion of people with ASDs. For the work inclusion of adults with ASDs, the interviewees expressed a mean WTP of 0.69 \u20ac for a box of 6 eggs and 0.85 \u20ac/Kg for zucchini. This is particularly important in supporting the economic sustainability of an activity, i.e., social farming, that typically has higher production costs and therefore needs to be supported by public subsidies. The positive attitude of consumers in terms of their willingness to pay a premium price for these products could potentially allow a strong hybridization between profit (agriculture) and nonprofit (social) activities, which could potentially both guarantee economic sustainability to firms and benefit society. Such hybridization has its roots in the view of agriculture as an integral part of the community, where each member is doing his or her part with concrete actions, including those connected to consumption choices that contribute to support the social positive externalities generated by farmers\u2019 activities

Work inclusion through supported employment? Perspectives of job counsellors in iceland

Funding Information: This study was conducted as part of the research project ‘Rethinking work inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities’ funded by the Research Council of Norway (‘HELSEVEL’ 2018–2020 number 273259). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s).Supported employment (SE) programmes are generally considered an effective measure to support disabled people in the labour market. While research about SE has mostly focused on quantitative measures, such as successful placement, scholars have argued for scrutinising the meaning behind programme implementation. To understand how SE contributes to work inclusion of disabled people, we studied how job counsellors view their support and how they give meaning to their own roles and the roles of clients and employers. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 job counsellors within the SE programme of the Icelandic public employment service. Analysis of interview data shows that while participants attached general importance to inclusion, their day-to-day approach to client-centred support, relations with employers, and follow-up support reflected a social integration rather than an inclusion perspective. The policy context in which job counsellors implement the programme appeared to play an important role in shaping their approach to support.Peer reviewe

Coping with the crisis: people with severe mental disorders acting for social change through sustainable energy.

Background: The aim of the study was to examine the efficacy of a vocational training program on renewable energy sources in reducing disabilities of people with chronic psychosis (CP). The innovative element was that the project could produce major advantages regarding the economic needs of the whole area involved. Methods: Experimental Cohort, 26 subjects with CP (EC); Control Cohort1, 130 subjects with CP following pharmacotherapy plus other rehabilitation activities (CIC); Control Cohort2, 101 subjects with CP following the usual treatment (pharmacotherapy) (CUC). Study tool: Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS). Assessment made at the start of the study (T0) and after three months (T1). Statistical analysis made by MANOVA. Results: Improvement in HoNOS total score in both groups (F=7.574, p=0.000) with non-significant differences between groups over time (F=1.336, p=0.252) was found comparing EC vs. CIC. Greater improvement in EC vs. CIC was shown in the HoNOS "impairment" scale (F=4.910, p=0.028). EC vs. CUC: both groups improved in HoNOS total score (F=9.440, p=0.000) but the improvement was greater in EC (F = 2.273, P=0.048). Conclusions: Work inclusion, as well as other rehabilitation treatments, reduces the social needs of people with chronic psychosis. Work inclusion in a project with real relevance for the area where these people live, produces more improvement of cognitive, physical and somatic disabilities, probably related to a better outcome in self-efficacy