Employment problems of disabled persons: Stereotypes and employer missing

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Department of Sociology, Moscow, Russia

¹ Corresponding author: raydmis@mail.ru

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study aimed at examining social stereotypes and established attitudes that hinder the employment of people with disabilities. To identify stereotypical ideas about the employment of people with disabilities, at the beginning of 2021, we undertook a study of two subgroups: employers (1) and people with disabilities (2). The paper presents a comparative analysis of the responses of representatives of the two groups, describes deep-rooted stereotypes, identified similarities and differences in existing attitudes about the barriers to employment of people with disabilities. The results of the study showed that people with disabilities and employers have stereotypes that either promote or, on the contrary, hinder the employment of a person with a disability. Negative stereotypes include: the idea of people with disabilities as inconvenient workers, dependents. On the other hand, employers have a fairly firmly formed setting of social responsibility and the obligation to hire people with disabilities, to promote their labor adaptation. In people with disabilities, although there is an attitude towards expectation of paternalism, the attitude towards self-development and social activity dominates. Turning to research within the framework of a qualitative methodology clarified the position of employers and showed the most vulnerable areas of employment of people with disabilities, namely, the unattractiveness of certain categories as workers and the absence of significant incentives for the employer to induce to hire people with disabilities.