Pilot study “Opportunities and barriers for highly qualified people with disabilities regarding the transition to employment subject to social insurance contributions”
Aim
By signing the UN CRPD, Germany has committed itself to strengthening the autonomy and self-determination of people with disabilities in the areas of education and employment, making their full and effective participation a goal and ensuring equal opportunities and accessibility. However, there is a lack of systematic information on the situation of highly qualified people with disabilities in Germany. Research projects are either purely practical projects, regionally limited or do not relate to students or academics with disabilities. This pilot project, funded by Aktion Mensch, addresses this research gap by analyzing the situation of academics with disabilities at the transition from university to working life: How successful is inclusion in the primary labor market? What barriers exist? What perspectives do different stakeholders have?
Implemetation
Various sources of information are integrated in order to answer these questions: (Public) data and statistics provide an overview of the situation in Germany. The results of a future workshop at the University of Cologne (N = 20) and online expert interviews (N = 74) with relevant stakeholders supplement this information with the experiences and views of experts in their own right.
Results
Around seven percent of students in Germany have an impairment that makes studying difficult (Middendorf et al., 2013). The impairments are not noticeable at first glance for 94 percent of respondents. Irrespective of this, 60 percent of respondents experience severe to very severe study difficulties. Overall, the students stated that many needs in terms of accessibility, flexibility and support are not sufficiently taken into account by the universities. On average, the students surveyed make somewhat slower progress in their studies than their fellow students without impairments (Unger et al., 2012).
Unemployment data from the Federal Employment Agency shows that while academics in Germany as a whole have benefited from the economic upturn, unemployment among severely disabled academics actually increased between 2009 and 2012.
The results of the future workshop and expert interviews provide an indication of which barriers are relevant here. Psychological barriers (stigmatization, prejudices, fear of contact, pressure to perform, etc.) are mentioned most frequently, but problems with funding (e.g. additional requirements for Master's degrees due to disabilities) also play a role, as well as a lack of accessibility throughout the education system and in other areas that contribute to the qualification profile and increase attractiveness on the job market (e.g. stays abroad, internships, student jobs).
The entire project report can be downloaded here http://publikationen.aktion-mensch.de/arbeit/AktionMensch_Studie-Arbeit_2013_09_30.pdf
On behalf of
Aktion Mensch
Duration
09/2012 - 04/2013
Contact
Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Mathilde Niehaus
Scientific Assistance: Dipl.-Psych. Jana Bauer
E-mail: arbeit-reha(at)uni-koeln.de