About the Book
Globally, the prevalence of disability is growing, as is disability awareness. The disability rights movement argues that the right to employment is essential for full participation and human dignity. While there have been improvements related to broad diversity programs and policies, those for persons with disabilities, especially less visible or invisible disabilities, have received less attention.
Contextual factors such as the legal environment and protections, cultural and social values, religious norms, and broader economic conditions shape the employment prospects for persons with disabilities. The De Gruyter Handbook of Disability and Management uses an interdisciplinary lens to study disability and management, integrating perspectives from disability studies, psychology, education, and legal domains. It aims to incorporate a contextually sensitive and global perspective to emphasize actionable areas of inclusion and provides a more international focus by including contributions from across the world including contries and regions that have till date received less attention in the area of disability studies.
Managers, human resource professionals, and policy makers can be more proactive to support persons with disabilities, and more insights, best practices, and tools are needed to facilitate this support. This handbook will guide and support efforts of organizational stakeholders and policy makers as they strive to be more inclusive.
Table of Contents:
1) Framing and introduction – the first section establishes the historical and conceptual framework underpinning disability workplace research. It could also be divided into two sections, separating the introduction from the conceptual section if we receive several entries. The aims are to establish: Why is this topic relevant and interesting for management scholars, and why now? What is the scope of the disability/management space? What topics and concepts have historically guided work in this area (e.g., stigma, accommodations) and what concepts are trending (e.g., ableism, inclusion, intersectionality)?
Possible chapters:
Overview of the history and evolution of disability paradigms
Disability and labor market outcomes
Why context matters
Stigma dimensions and disability characteristics
Ableism and diversity
Disclosure
Identity development
Intersectionality
Temporality and liminality
2) Contexts – the second section further develops the arguments related to context, spanning the micro (individuals), meso (work groups and organizations) and macro (legal and institutional) levels. This section gets to the core purpose of our volume, taking an interdisciplinary perspective to integrate legal, cultural, workplace, and individual contexts. It aims to address: What contextual factors influence the workplace opportunities and experiences for employees with a disability? What are potential barriers to workplace opportunities? How do legal policies and cultural values shape organizational responses to disability inclusion? In what way do persons with a disability differ from one another and how does this affect how they navigate the labor market?
Possible chapters:
Outlining employment models – competitive employment, sheltered employment, self-employment
Role of technology – changing the workplace expectations and possibilities for all
Educational context – managing transitions between K-12 and higher educational as well as the transition between one’s training and the workplace, workplace training and lifelong learning
The importance of allies, social support, role models and mentoring
The role of organizational culture and support. Are some sectors more supportive than others?
Cross-cultural comparisons. Discussion of broad differences between countries as well as case studies and comparisons between specific counties with different approaches to disability
Laws/quotas
Which categories get more/less attention
How cultural beliefs shape the context for persons with a disability
Differences in accommodation strategies
3) Considering specific disability categories – section three will offer focused coverage of the issues and opportunities for specific disability categories. Experiences of disability vary depending on the types of limitations an individual has - whether their condition is visible, whether workplace accommodation is needed, and the extent to which the disability is stigmatized. This section addresses: What are key concerns for diverse disability categories? How do concerns differ across the broader disability/workplace space? How do these aspects affect employability or career prospects?
Possible chapters:
Mobility disabilities
Sensory disabilities
Psychological disabilities
Multiple disabilities
Comparing experiences of disability categories
4) HRM Practices – section four addresses how HR practices and policies, as well as other forms of organizational support shape work opportunities for persons with a disability, as both barriers and enablers. It aims to answer: What policies and practices present barriers for persons with a disability? What types of policies have been effective in improving employment opportunities for this collective? What role do organizations, managers and co-workers play in the employment experiences of this collective?
Possible chapters include:
Organizational approaches and philosophies to disability – disability blind or disability focused?
Accessible recruitment practices
Accommodations
Examples of innovative disability inclusion programs
Training and development, self-development
5) Looking Forward/ Future Research – section five offers ideas on how researchers, practitioners, and policy makers can think about forms of inclusion in the future. This section addresses: Where are we going from here? What are the current best practices to make organizations more inclusive? Which research areas need further development? What areas warrant special concern?
Possible chapters:
What trends will influence the future of disability research
Changing technology
Changing work design
Next steps for the human rights perspective – expanding views of disability
Best practices around the world, a recap
Overall, the Handbook will elicit research that integrates levels, contexts, and perspectives. We will solicit chapters that are focused on both access to and treatment within diverse workplaces, maintaining a focus on organizational life informed by interdisciplinary perspectives.
About the Author :
Joy E. Beatty is Academic Department Head of Management and Associate Professor in the College of Business at Eastern Michigan University. Her research focuses on diversity in the workplace, specifically the experiences of employees with disability and chronic illness. Her work has been published in Human Resource Management, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Academy of Management Review, Group and Organization Management, and Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
Sophie Hennekam is Professor in Organizational Behavior at Rennes School of Business, in France. Her research revolves around inclusion, diversity and stigmatized and/or invisible populations at work. She has published in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology and Human Relations.
Mukta Kulkarni is a professor and has held the Mphasis Chair for Digital Accessibility and Inclusion at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She has published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Human Relations, the Leadership Quarterly, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Human Relations, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and is an associate editor for the Journal of Management Inquiry.
Joy E. Beatty is Academic Department Head of Management and Associate Professor in the College of Business at Eastern Michigan University. Her research focuses on diversity in the workplace, specifically the experiences of employees with disability and chronic illness. Her work has been published in Human Resource Management, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Academy of Management Review, Group and Organization Management, and Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
Sophie Hennekam is Professor in Organizational Behavior at Rennes School of Business, in France. Her research revolves around inclusion, diversity and stigmatized and/or invisible populations at work. She has published in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology and Human Relations.
Mukta Kulkarni is a professor and has held the Mphasis Chair for Digital Accessibility and Inclusion at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She has published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Human Relations, the Leadership Quarterly, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Human Relations, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and is an associate editor for the Journal of Management Inquiry.
