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A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority

BACKGROUND: Groups in society that are under-represented in the workforce encounter various barriers in the job-seeking process. Some of these barriers are found on the employer’s side of the table. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates supervisors’ and employees’ assessments of job seekers with differ...

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Autores principales: Fyhn, Tonje, Sveinsdottir, Vigdis, Reme, Silje E., Sandal, Gro M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: IOS Press 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8543240/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34511527
http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/WOR-213568
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author Fyhn, Tonje
Sveinsdottir, Vigdis
Reme, Silje E.
Sandal, Gro M.
author_facet Fyhn, Tonje
Sveinsdottir, Vigdis
Reme, Silje E.
Sandal, Gro M.
author_sort Fyhn, Tonje
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Groups in society that are under-represented in the workforce encounter various barriers in the job-seeking process. Some of these barriers are found on the employer’s side of the table. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates supervisors’ and employees’ assessments of job seekers with different forms of disabilities, health issues, or with a minority background. It also investigates respondents’ previous experience with such colleagues, and whether supervisor status affects their assessments. METHODS: A survey was distributed among supervisors (n = 305) and employees (n = 925) using a vignette design with ten characters, inquiring about willingness to include such an employee in their work group. The vignettes described job seekers with either a mental illness, a physical disability or a cultural minority. Risk ratio (RR) was calculated for being assessed positively, using a vignette character describing a single mother as reference. RESULTS: Vignette characters describing mental health issues and physical disabilities were less likely to be assessed positively than the reference case, except for the vignette describing audio impairment. Cultural minorities were assessed as positive, or more positively than the reference case. Supervisors and employees generally agreed in their assessments of vignette characters, and previous experience was consistently associated with a more positive assessment of the character in question. Various barriers to include the least favoured vignette characters were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Although some findings are promising with regard to increasing work participation for underrepresented groups, barriers pertaining to some of the vignette characters should be addressed in vocational rehabilitation efforts, as well as in organizations seeking to enhance equal opportunities and diversity.
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spelling pubmed-85432402021-11-10 A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority Fyhn, Tonje Sveinsdottir, Vigdis Reme, Silje E. Sandal, Gro M. Work Research Article BACKGROUND: Groups in society that are under-represented in the workforce encounter various barriers in the job-seeking process. Some of these barriers are found on the employer’s side of the table. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates supervisors’ and employees’ assessments of job seekers with different forms of disabilities, health issues, or with a minority background. It also investigates respondents’ previous experience with such colleagues, and whether supervisor status affects their assessments. METHODS: A survey was distributed among supervisors (n = 305) and employees (n = 925) using a vignette design with ten characters, inquiring about willingness to include such an employee in their work group. The vignettes described job seekers with either a mental illness, a physical disability or a cultural minority. Risk ratio (RR) was calculated for being assessed positively, using a vignette character describing a single mother as reference. RESULTS: Vignette characters describing mental health issues and physical disabilities were less likely to be assessed positively than the reference case, except for the vignette describing audio impairment. Cultural minorities were assessed as positive, or more positively than the reference case. Supervisors and employees generally agreed in their assessments of vignette characters, and previous experience was consistently associated with a more positive assessment of the character in question. Various barriers to include the least favoured vignette characters were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Although some findings are promising with regard to increasing work participation for underrepresented groups, barriers pertaining to some of the vignette characters should be addressed in vocational rehabilitation efforts, as well as in organizations seeking to enhance equal opportunities and diversity. IOS Press 2021-09-28 /pmc/articles/PMC8543240/ /pubmed/34511527 http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/WOR-213568 Text en © 2021 – The authors. Published by IOS Press https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Research Article
Fyhn, Tonje
Sveinsdottir, Vigdis
Reme, Silje E.
Sandal, Gro M.
A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
title A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
title_full A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
title_fullStr A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
title_full_unstemmed A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
title_short A mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
title_sort mixed methods study of employers’ and employees’ evaluations of job seekers with a mental illness, disability, or of a cultural minority
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8543240/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34511527
http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/WOR-213568
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