Employing Diversity

Disability employment a fairly new research topic is often overlooked in organizations' diversity equity and inclusion initiatives. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how companies can improve the hiring process for people with a range of disabilities: physical intellectual and psychiatric. First pervasive problems within the current hiring practices for people with disabilities are identified. Then the current legal requirements are defined; barriers benefits and challenges to hiring people with disabilities are explained; and the best practices are cited to suggest solutions in changing the hiring process to support the selection and retention of individuals with disabilities. Based on information from scholarly journals interviews with HR professionals and conversations with disabled individuals it is clear that improvement in hiring disabled applicants can be beneficial for all organizational stakeholders. This thesis concludes with a discussion of how the findings differ from my personal thoughts and experiences of disability employment discrimination.