IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jdisab/v3y2023i2p16-254d1158406.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Support Priorities of Autistic University Students and Careers Advisors: Understanding Differences, Building on Strengths

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandra Barry

    (NHS England, London SE1 8UG, UK)

  • Elena Syurina

    (Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Mitzi Waltz

    (Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Background : The number of autistic individuals attending university and entering the workforce is growing, but there is a persistent employment gap. Higher education careers services offer students help to secure employment post-graduation. This research sought to identify barriers to and facilitators of success with regards to career advisors’ practice in helping autistic students prepare for job interviews and secure employment. Methods : A mixed-methods participatory research design incorporating surveys, co-creation workshops, and interviews with stakeholders was employed. Results : Quantitative results showed differences in what advisors and students/graduates viewed as the biggest barriers to employment, with students/graduates rating stress and professional qualifications significantly higher and advisors rating interacting with clients/customers significantly higher. Gender differences were also found. Qualitative results revealed the biggest barriers to be inflexible employers, interview stress, diagnostic disclosure, and confidence; facilitators included an individual focus, clear communication, strengths-based approach leading to self-insight, and mock interviews. Conclusions : Practices identified for better serving autistic students included discussing disclosure options, building confidence, reducing stress through a strengths-based approach, and mock interviews, following up to identify autism-friendly employers, focusing on the individual rather than the diagnosis, and communicating clearly with students/graduates.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Barry & Elena Syurina & Mitzi Waltz, 2023. "Support Priorities of Autistic University Students and Careers Advisors: Understanding Differences, Building on Strengths," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jdisab:v:3:y:2023:i:2:p:16-254:d:1158406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/3/2/16/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/3/2/16/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter S. WONG & Michelle DONELLY & Philip A. NECK & Bill BOYD, 2018. "Positive Autism: Investigation of Workplace Characteristics. Leading to a Strengths-Based Approach to Employment of People with Autism," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(1), pages 15-30, March.
    2. Timo Lorenz & Cora Frischling & Raphael Cuadros & Kathrin Heinitz, 2016. "Autism and Overcoming Job Barriers: Comparing Job-Related Barriers and Possible Solutions in and outside of Autism-Specific Employment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Melissa Scott & Andrew Jacob & Delia Hendrie & Richard Parsons & Sonya Girdler & Torbjörn Falkmer & Marita Falkmer, 2017. "Employers’ perception of the costs and the benefits of hiring individuals with autism spectrum disorder in open employment in Australia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Coralie Fiori-Khayat, 2023. "In Search of Regained Time? Autism and Organizational [A]temporality in the Light of Humanistic Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(4), pages 665-679, December.
    2. Satoris S. Howes, 2023. "Emotional Intelligence in Autistic Adults: A Review with Considerations for Employers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Melissa Scott & Andrew Jacob & Delia Hendrie & Richard Parsons & Sonya Girdler & Torbjörn Falkmer & Marita Falkmer, 2017. "Employers’ perception of the costs and the benefits of hiring individuals with autism spectrum disorder in open employment in Australia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, May.
    4. Carlton J. Fong & Joshua Taylor & Aynura Berdyyeva & Amanda M. McClelland & Kathleen M. Murphy & John D. Westbrook, 2021. "Interventions for improving employment outcomes for persons with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review update," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), September.
    5. Michał T. Tomczak & Paweł Ziemiański, 2023. "Autistic Employees’ Technology-Based Workplace Accommodation Preferences Survey—Preliminary Findings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-11, May.
    6. Melissa Sharpe & Claire Hutchinson & June Alexander, 2022. "The Lived Experiences and Perspectives of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mainstream Employment in Australia," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Schneid, Iris & Raz, Aviad E., 2020. "The mask of autism: Social camouflaging and impression management as coping/normalization from the perspectives of autistic adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    8. Craig Thompson & Sven Bölte & Torbjörn Falkmer & Sonya Girdler, 2018. "To be understood: Transitioning to adult life for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Jiaqi Jing & Xiaoqing Feng & Jianbo Song & Boya Li, 2022. "Does the Inclusion of Disabled Employees Affect Firm Performance? Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.
    10. Liron Lamash & Sonya Meyer, 2022. "Work-Related Self-Efficacy and Illness Identity in Adults with Autism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-9, December.

    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:3:y:2023:i:2:p:16-254:d:1158406. 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.