Affiliations: [a] Halmstad University, The Wigforss Research Group, Center for Research on Welfare, Health and Sport, Halmstad, Sweden | [b] Research and Development, Misa AB, Stockholm, Sweden | [c] La Trobe University, Living with Disability Research Team, Melbourne, NSW, Australia
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Renee Luthra, Halmstad University School for Health and Welfare, Box 823, SE-301 18 Halmstad, Sweden. Tel.: +46 35167287; [email protected]
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Individuals with disabilities are often far removed from the labour market and research shows that employers’ negative attitudes toward persons with disabilities create a barrier to attaining employment.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate Swedish employers’ experiences and attitudes toward hiring persons with various disabilities.
METHODS: A vignette method with accompanying questions was used. A total of 212 employers, who were actively seeking to hire, were recruited via an online employment site and participated in the study.
RESULTS: The results indicated that there is some interest for employers to hire persons with disabilities and that this depended on the type of disability a person has. Other results demonstrated that previous experience of employing persons with disabilities was linked to greater interest in hiring, that employers had greater interest to hire than they thought other employers had, and that openness about the disability was deemed as an important factor in the hiring process.
CONCLUSION: The novelty of this study is its use of a vignette design to investigate employers’ attitudes in Sweden. Moreover, the results are much in line with international research. This contributes to knowledge and development of increasing employment for persons with disabilities.
Keywords: Employer attitudes, employment, persons with disabilities, Sweden, vignette method
