IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jdisab/v2y2022i2p14-203d788799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

It Is Time to Address Ableism in Academia: A Systematic Review of the Experiences and Impact of Ableism among Faculty and Staff

Author

Listed:
  • Sally Lindsay

    (Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON M4G 1R8, Canada
    Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1V7, Canada)

  • Kristina Fuentes

    (Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON M4G 1R8, Canada)

Abstract

Faculty and staff with disabilities are significantly underrepresented within academia and experience alarming rates of discrimination, social exclusion and marginalization. This review aimed to understand the experiences and impact of disability discrimination (ableism) among faculty and staff. We conducted a systematic review while searching six international databases that identified 33 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. Of the 33 studies that were included in our review, they involved 1996 participants across six countries, over a 25-year period. The studies highlighted faculty and staff experiences of ableism in academia, which focused on disclosure (i.e., choosing to disclose or not), accommodations (i.e., lack of workplace accommodations and the difficult process for obtaining them) and negative attitudes (i.e., stigma, ableism and exclusion). Twenty-one studies explained the impact of ableism in academia, including a negative effect on physical and mental health, and career development. Coping mechanisms and strategies to address ableism in academia were also described. There is a critical need for more research and attention to the lived experiences of ableism among faculty and staff in academia and the impact that ableism has on their health and well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Sally Lindsay & Kristina Fuentes, 2022. "It Is Time to Address Ableism in Academia: A Systematic Review of the Experiences and Impact of Ableism among Faculty and Staff," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-26, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jdisab:v:2:y:2022:i:2:p:14-203:d:788799
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/2/2/14/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/2/2/14/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gregor Wolbring & Aspen Lillywhite, 2021. "Equity/Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Universities: The Case of Disabled People," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-34, May.
    2. Munir, F. & Leka, S. & Griffiths, A., 2005. "Dealing with self-management of chronic illness at work: predictors for self-disclosure," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 1397-1407, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gregor Wolbring & Laiba Nasir, 2024. "Intersectionality of Disabled People through a Disability Studies, Ability-Based Studies, and Intersectional Pedagogy Lens: A Survey and a Scoping Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-77, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Miho Sato & Yoshihiko Yamazaki, 2012. "Work‐related factors associated with self‐care and psychological health among people with type 2 diabetes in Japan," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 520-527, December.
    2. Gregor Wolbring, 2022. "Auditing the ‘Social’ of Quantum Technologies: A Scoping Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-38, March.
    3. Datta Gupta, Nabanita & Jürges, Hendrik, 2012. "Do workers underreport morbidity? The accuracy of self-reports of chronic conditions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1589-1594.
    4. Katherine J.C. Sang & James Richards & Abigail Marks, 2016. "Gender and Disability in Male-Dominated Occupations: A Social Relational Model," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(6), pages 566-581, November.
    5. Brielle Lillywhite & Gregor Wolbring, 2022. "Emergency and Disaster Management, Preparedness, and Planning (EDMPP) and the ‘Social’: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-50, October.
    6. Gregor Wolbring & Simerta Gill, 2023. "Potential Impact of Environmental Activism: A Survey and a Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-46, February.
    7. Brielle Lillywhite & Gregor Wolbring, 2022. "Risk Narrative of Emergency and Disaster Management, Preparedness, and Planning (EDMPP): The Importance of the ‘Social’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-36, December.
    8. Gregor Wolbring & Maria Escobedo, 2023. "Academic Coverage of Social Stressors Experienced by Disabled People: A Scoping Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-31, September.
    9. Simerta Gill & Gregor Wolbring, 2022. "Auditing the ‘Social’ Using Conventions, Declarations, and Goal Setting Documents: A Scoping Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-100, October.
    10. Gregor Wolbring & Aspen Lillywhite, 2023. "Burnout through the Lenses of Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Disabled People: A Scoping Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-31, May.
    11. Chiara Salvatore & Gregor Wolbring, 2021. "Children and Youth Environmental Action: The Case of Children and Youth with Disabilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-27, September.
    12. Yvonne Nichole Faller & Vanessa Peynenburg & Eric Tessier & David Thiessen & Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos, 2023. "Efficacy of an Online Workplace Mental Health Accommodations Psychoeducational Course: A Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-17, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jdisab:v:2:y:2022:i:2:p:14-203:d:788799. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.