Researchers are working to address the issue of disability discrimination in employment and discover ways to maximize disability inclusion. However, a more precise understanding of the experiences of individuals within the workplace is needed.
The study examined the inclusiveness of work units, the quality of supervisor relationships with subordinates with disabilities, job characteristics and fit, access to mentoring, and coworkers’ attitudes as potential factors impacting the experiences of people with disabilities. It also looked at obstacles that may impede the effective implementation of disability practices. In addition, the issue of disability disclosure is currently receiving a great deal of attention. The recent revisions to the regulations for Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 mean that federal contractors will be expected to employ enough individuals with disabilities to comprise 7% of their workforce. Employers must rely on the willingness of employees to disclose their disability in order to meet these goals. Very little is currently known about the conditions that make it more or less likely that an individual with a disability will feel comfortable disclosing their disability, to whom they are most likely to disclose their disability, and whether individuals who do disclose their disability have positive disclosure experiences

Bruyere, Susanne M, Dr.

Nishii, Lisa Hisae

English

DigitalCommons@ILR

Sponsored by the Rehabil itation and Research Training Center on 
Employer Practices Related to Employment Outcomes among Individuals 
with Disabil it ies at Cornell  University
Washington,  D.C.
October  22-23 ,  2013
Research presented at  the 
Innovat ive  Research on Employer  Pract ices:
Improving Employment  for  People  wi th  Disabi l i t ies
STATE OF THE SCIENCE CONFERENCE
Research Brief: 
Inside the Workplace: Case Studies 
of Factors Inuencing Engagement 
of People with Disabil it ies
 1 
 
Overview  
 
Researchers are working to address the issue of disability discrimination in employment and 
discover ways to maximize disability inclusion.  However, a more precise understanding of the 
experiences of individuals within the workplace is needed.  
 
Cornell University conducted in-depth studies in both a public and a private sector organization 
to obtain a fuller understanding of factors in the workplace that impact disability inclusiveness 
and minimize disability employment discrimination.  This research included non-disability-
specific factors that have been shown to enhance the advancement and retention of employees in 
general, with the hope of developing a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of practices 
and issues that are most influential for people with disabilities.   
 
The study examined the inclusiveness of work units, the quality of supervisor relationships with 
subordinates with disabilities, job characteristics and fit, access to mentoring, and coworkers’ 
attitudes as potential factors impacting the experiences of people with disabilities.  It also looked 
at obstacles that may impede the effective implementation of disability practices.  In addition, the 
issue of disability disclosure is currently receiving a great deal of attention.  The recent revisions 
to the regulations for Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 mean that federal contractors 
will be expected to employ enough individuals with disabilities to comprise 7% of their 
workforce.  Employers must rely on the willingness of employees to disclose their disability in 
order to meet these goals. Very little is currently known about the conditions that make it more 
or less likely that an individual with a disability will feel comfortable disclosing their disability, 
to whom they are most likely to disclose their disability, and whether individuals who do 
disclose their disability have positive disclosure experiences.  
 
We collected survey data from employees of one public (n=1,103; 34% response rate) and one 
private sector (n=2,240; 36% response rate) organization. Employees provided data about their 
personal work experiences, disability status, and accommodation experiences, and these data 
were analyzed within a multi-level context utilizing data from department managers about their 
awareness of disability policies and practices, and aggregate employee data related to the 
department’s climate and collective employee work experiences.    
Here we examine employees’ views of three primary issues emerging from our research: 
employee and managerial perceptions of, and experiences with, disability policies and practices 
within their organization; disability bias (including factors that impact its likelihood); and self-
disclosure, both of one’s disability status and also of one’s need for an accommodation.  
 
Perceptions of, and Experiences With, Disability Policies and Practices 
 
Our past research suggested that the effectiveness of disability policies and practices may be 
hindered by employees’ lack of awareness about their existence and/or knowledge about when 
and how to apply them. We examined the significance of this issue, and explored the channels 
through which employees learn about practices.   In addition, we sought to discover obstacles to 
consistent implementation of these practices, and to explore which barriers to employment and 
advancement are perceived to be the most significant. 
 2 
 
Awareness of Disability Practices
Are y ou aware of  whether the f ollowing 
policies and/or practices regarding disability  
exist within y our organization?
Q1: Targeted recruiting of people with disabilities.
Q2: Clear policies and procedures for disability 
accommodations.
Q3: Including disability in your organization’s diversity 
strategy or mission statement.
Q4: Centralized source of funding for accommodations.
Q5: Designated office or person to address accommodation 
questions.
Q6: Formal (i.e., written, documented) decision-making 
process for the case-by-case provision of 
accommodations.
Q7: Disability awareness and sensitivity training for 
employees.
Q8: Regular review of the accessibility of your organization’s 
job application systems.
Q9: Training of HR staff and hiring managers on effective 
interviewing of people with disabilities.
Q10: Invitation for employees to confidentially disclose 
whether they have a disability.
Q11: Disability Advisory Group. Across both 
organizations:
Particularly low lev els of 
awareness about disability 
practices
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10
Don’t Know
Yes
No
Priv ate Sector
Employ ees & 
Managers
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11
Don't Kno w
Yes
No
Public Sector
Managers
Only  
 
 
Results showed that across both organizations there were particularly low levels of awareness 
about the organization’s disability practices in these areas: targeted recruiting of people with 
disabilities, a centralized source of funding for accommodation, formal (i.e., written, 
documented) decision-making process for the case-by-case provision of accommodations, 
whether a regular review of the accessibility of the organization’s job application systems was 
conducted, or whether training of HR staff and hiring managers on effective interviewing of 
people with disabilities was regularly conducted. 
 
  
 3 
 
Public Sector Managerial Perceptions About Barriers and Ways to Reduce 
Them 
 
In the public organization studied, managers were asked about their perceptions of select barriers 
to the employment or advancement of people with disabilities.  Interestingly, the barriers rated 
highest were: cost of accommodations, lack of qualified applicants with disabilities, leader's 
knowledge of which accommodations to make, and attitudes/stereotypes. 
 
 
Managerial perceptions about the barriers to the employment or advancement of people 
with disabilities 
 
Mean 
(out of 5) 
Cost of accommodations 2.50 
Lack of qualified applicants with disabilities 2.44 
Leader's knowledge of which accommodations to make 2.41 
Attitudes/stereotypes 2.23 
Lack of related experience among people with disabilities 2.19 
Cost of training 2.07 
Lack of requisite skills and training among people with disabilities 2.02 
Additional cost of supervision 1.81 
Attendance of people with disabilities 1.68 
Productivity and performance of people with disabilities 1.58 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
Public sector managers were also asked about the potential effectiveness of a select number of 
interventions for reducing barriers to the employment or advancement of people with disabilities.  
Visible top management commitment, paying closer attention to physical accessibility (i.e., in 
buildings/facilities), ensuring HR/EEO staff are highly knowledgeable about disability policy 
and accommodations, and framing accommodations within broader workplace flexibility 
initiatives were seen as the more effective interventions of the 13 interventions inquired about. 
 
 
Managerial perceptions about the (potential) effectiveness of interventions for reducing 
barriers to the employment or advancement of people with disabilities (public sector) 
 
Mean  
(out of 5) 
 Visible top management commitment 3.94 
Paying closer attention to physical accessibility (i.e., in buildings/facilities) 3.85 
Ensuring HR/EEO staff are highly knowledgeable about disability policy and 
accommodations 
3.85 
Framing accommodations within broader workplace flexibility initiatives 3.65 
Ensuring perceived fairness of grievance or complaint process 3.59 
Formal mentoring program to ensure employees with disabilities have mentors 3.57 
Special budget allocation/centralized accommodation fund 3.54 
 Better leveraging the Disability Advisory Group to identify and address key 
challenges 
3.54 
Engaging the Disability Advisory Group to share success stories of employees 
with disabilities 
3.50 
Regular leadership training about the accommodation process 3.40 
More consistently including disability within the broader diversity & inclusion 
strategic plan 
3.33 
Required annual staff training focused on disability awareness 3.01 
Including focus on diversity goals (including disability goals) in supervisors' 
performance appraisals 
2.71 
 
  
 5 
 
Disability Related Bias 
 
Our analysis of EEOC charge data shows that individuals with disabilities continue to experience 
discrimination in organizations. Thus, our goal was to understand the disability practice, 
managerial, and job factors that might make it more or less likely that people report experiencing 
subtle forms of disability-related bias. Our prior work on disability climate, as well as the 
broader literature on diversity/inclusion climate, have suggested that people’s general work 
experiences as well as their experiences with bias are heavily influenced by the climate of their 
workplace. Therefore, we set out to explore the predictors of disability climate, and examine how 
the experiences of people with disabilities vary as a function of their department’s disability 
climate.  
 
Across both public and private sector organizations, whether or not employees with disabilities 
experience disability-related bias is negatively associated with the awareness that the managers 
in their department have of disability practices, as well as managers’ overall perceptions about 
the effectiveness of those practices.  
 
Experiences of disability-related bias (across both samples) are influenced by: 
 
 
* Black font = significantly in private sector sample only; blue font = significant in both; green = significant only in 
public sector sample 
  
Managers’ awareness of: 
 
• Clear policies for 
accommodations 
• Designated office to address 
accommodations questions 
• Formal decision-making process 
for provision of accommodations  
• The regular review of the 
accessibility of the company’s 
application systems 
• Disability awareness training for 
employees 
• Training for HR and hiring 
managers on interviewing people 
with disabilities 
Managers’ perceptions about the 
effectiveness of: 
 
• Clear policies and procedures for 
accommodations 
• Formal decision-making process 
for the case-by-case provision of 
accommodations 
• Invitation for employees to 
confidentiality self-disclose 
• Designated office/person to address 
accommodations questions 
• Disability awareness and sensitivity 
training for employees 
 6 
 
Perceptions of the Organization’s Disability Climate 
 
Employees’ perceptions about the organization’s disability climate were assessed with the 
following items: 1) employees with disabilities have the same opportunities as people without 
disabilities; 2) the company is making strong efforts to improve conditions and opportunities for 
people with disabilities; 3) the company is responsive to the needs of people with disabilities; 
and 4) the company demonstrates a commitment to increasing representation of people with 
disabilities at all levels of the organization. 
 
 
 
A unit’s climate for inclusion, the proportion of managers who have undergone disability 
awareness training, department managers’ awareness of disability policies and practices, and 
department managers’ perceptions that disabilities policies are adopted due to genuine 
commitment to disability, in order to promote inclusion, and/or because it’s the right thing to do 
(and NOT just to copy competitors or comply with laws) all contribute significantly to the 
collective employee perceptions of disability climate.  Perceptions of disability climate are 
important because they influence the experiences that individuals with disabilities report having, 
including their felt embeddedness within the organization, perceived organizational support, 
perceptions of the quality of the relationship with their immediate supervisor, fit between their 
Collective 
perceptions of the 
organization’s 
Disability Climate 
Climate for Inclusion 
Felt embeddedness within 
the organization 
Perceived organizational 
support 
Organizational 
commitment 
Experiences of employees with 
disabilities 
Quality of relationship 
with immediate 
supervisor 
Proportion of 
department managers 
who have undergone 
disability awareness 
training  
Fit between one’s abilities 
and job demands 
Department managers’ 
perceptions that 
disabilities policies are 
adopted due to genuine 
commitment to 
disability, in order to 
promote inclusion, 
and/or because it’s the 
right thing to do (but 
NOT when managers 
attribute to need to 
copy competitors or 
simply comply with 
laws) 
Department managers’ 
awareness of disability 
policies and practices 
Disability-related bias 
Disclosure of disability 
 7 
 
abilities and the demands of the job, commitment to the organization, experiences with 
disability-related bias, and willingness to disclose their disability to others. 
 
Self-Disclosure of Disability 
 
Organizations are increasingly concerned with accurately recording the proportion of their 
employees who have a disability.  Their ability to do this is dependent in large part on the 
willingness of employees to disclose that they have a disability.  Yet little is known about the 
factors that influence disclosure. We set out to explore to whom people are most likely to 
disclose, their experiences when they do disclose (and what predicts those experiences), and the 
fears they may have about disclosing.  We examined not just an individual’s direct disclosure of 
a disability, but also their willingness to ask for an accommodation (thereby revealing that they 
have a disability or health condition).  
 
Employees are significantly (at least 1.5 times) more likely to self-disclose to other individuals 
than to formal entities (HR, EEO, employee records, etc.).  When employees with disabilities 
work within departments in which employees overall feel supported, fairly treated, and 
embedded, they are more likely to feel “safe” about disclosing their disability. Employees who 
have been with the organization longer tend to have more positive experiences when disclosing 
to formal organizational entities.  Disability type and visibility do not appear to predict the 
favorability of disclosure experiences.  
 
Conclusion  
 
Case study research is valuable in identifying the impact of awareness of disability employment 
and inclusion policies.  However, having a disability-related policy in place doesn’t ensure 
awareness and subsequent use. Also, managers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of these policies 
are positively associated with employees’ perceptions about the organization’s commitment to 
these issues. Visual top management commitment continues to be seen as a key factor in 
reducing barriers, but managers are also a critical element in the experiences of people with 
disabilities in the workplace. Managers’ perceptions of the motivations of their organization 
(e.g., true interest in inclusion vs. legal compliance) positively affect the organization’s disability 
climate. Disability disclosure is most likely to take place with managers or co-workers, rather 
than HR staff, such that education and training for all employees about how to deal with 
disability disclosure in the workforce is imperative. 
 
 
This brief was prepared by Lisa Nishii and Susanne Bruyère to summarize a presentation for a 
state of the science conference entitled Innovative Research on Employment Practices: 
Improving Employment for People with Disabilities sponsored by the Employer Practices 
Related to Employment Outcomes among Individuals with Disabilities Rehabilitation Research 
and Training Center funded to Cornell University by the U.S. Department of Education National 
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (Grant #H133B100017) held October 22-23, 
2013 in Crystal City, MD. 
  
This state of the science conference and research is funded to Cornell  University by the U.S. 
Department of Education National Institute on Disabil ity and Rehabil itation Research (NIDRR) for a 
Rehabil itation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employer Practices Related to Employment 
Outcomes among Individuals with Disabil it ies (grant #H133B100017). The contents of this research brief 
do not necessari ly represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume 
endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar, 75.620 (b)) .
 


Research Brief: Inside the Workplace: Case Studies of Factors Influencing Engagement of People with Disabilities

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Research Brief: Inside the Workplace: Case Studies of Factors Influencing Engagement of People with Disabilities

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