Date of Award

Spring 4-26-2024

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Department/Major

Business

First Advisor

Dr. Heather Anderson

Second Advisor

Dr. Charles Lubbers

Third Advisor

Mr. Joseph Donovan

Keywords

Disability, Employment, Best Practices, Intellectual, Developmental, Hiring, IDD

Subject Categories

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Human Resources Management

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify best practices for the successful employment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by exploring their employment from several perspectives. Despite the prominence of DEI initiatives in today’s organizations and federal legislation prohibiting discrimination, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities still struggle to find employment. This is unfortunate as employment is vital for people's physical, mental, and financial well-being, and because employers may be overlooking valuable potential employees. Through a qualitative analysis of first-hand accounts of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their family members, and employers who proactively hire people with disabilities, my goal is to better understand the benefits and challenges of seeking employment with an intellectual and developmental disability and hiring employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities. My analysis uncovers several common themes in these accounts, including each group’s motives for seeking employment or helping those with disabilities find employment. Drawing from the information gleaned in my study, I have identified actions organizations take to meaningfully hire people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to positively impact both the employee and business.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.