On the treatment of persons with disabilities
in organizations: A review and research
agenda
Authors: David C baldridge, Stephan A Boehm, Mukta Kulkarni, Joy E Beatty.
Breif Summary
Mirroring the increase in disability awareness, research interest has also been
increasing; however, it still lags behind that of other diversity dimensions, such as
gender, race, and ethnicity. Overall, studies in this section suggest that task complexity
(with associated ability requirements), task interdependence, and interdependence of
rewards are relevant job factors shaping treatment of persons with disabilities in
organizations. Studies also suggest that these job related attributes may assume
importance for certain disabilities more than for others. Given the large numbers and
diversity of disability conditions and job requirements, existing research has only begun
to investigate fit assessments for various combinations of disabilities, job requirements,
and other individual differences The research is focused on quantitative and qualitative
empirical studies regarding the treatment of persons with disabilities in work
organizations from the fields of management, rehabilitation, psychology, and sociology
Human resource practitioners play a crucial role in promoting equitable treatment of
persons with disabilities, and practitioner's decisions should be guided by solid
evidence-based research. We offer a systematic review of the empirical research on the
treatment of persons with disabilities in organizations; In addition here they found
employees with disabilities were less satisfied than employees without disabilities in
work organizations with highly centralized structures. They suggested that a more
pronounced hierarchy of authority in an organization may make it harder for managers
to respond to the needs of employees with disabilities. In another U.S. study of HR and
line managers various studies have investigated the influence of disability type on
selection and hiring decisions and found applicants with a mental or psychological
disability were judged more negatively than persons with physical, sensory, or cognitive
disabilities. An interviewed were conducted in the past of U.S. corporate executives in a
study that aimed to explain why employers do not hire persons with disabilities. They
found employers had concerns about the job qualifications and performance potential of
persons with disabilities, the costs associated with such hiring, and possible reactions of
other stakeholders. Some employers were concerned about “headaches”such as more
frequent absences or higher government scrutiny associated with hiring persons with
disabilities, which increased their fear of discrimination litigation A qualitative study of
Taiwanese employers by Huang and Chen (2015) found the perceived need for
accommodations and extra training and supervision also decreased managers'
perceptions of promotability for employees with disabilities. In contrast to studies of
barriers related to inclusion, some studies reported positive expectations of working with
persons with disabilities, such as higher loyalty and reliability, and lower turnover
However a note that employers hire persons with disabilities to address persistent labor
shortages for lower-level jobs that college-educated applicants will not take—a positive
attitude that points to other persistent problems such as the underemployment of
persons with disabilities. It would be helpful to have investigations of a full range of
expected future contact and expected outcomes. For example, emerging trends such as
flexible work arrangements may influence coworkers' job-related expectations for
persons with disabilities and other individual differences. HR practitioners cannot make
good decisions without solid evidence based research. The aim of our review was to
take stock of the empirical research on the treatment of persons with disabilities in work
organizations, in particular with respect to staffing, development, performance appraisal,
rewards, inclusion, and other HR management topics for employees with disabilities. In
context of Pakistani organization HR & Employers don’t go for hiring disabled people
due to certain reason like disabled individuals are much costly for organization as
compare to nondisabled.
