Popular in Professional

Human Rights Law

Human Rights and Corruption: Problems and Potential of Individualising a Systemic Problem

Max Planck Institute Anne Peters

Law

A statistical approach to law school citation rankings

University of Virginia Joshua Fischman

Education

High school change

Boston College Andrew Hargreaves

Constitutional Law

What is constitutional ideology?

University of Oxford Nick Barber

Civil Procedure Law

Politics, Identity, and Class Certification on the U.S. Courts of Appeals

University of Pennsylvania Sean Farhang

Culture and Society

The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place

New York University Harvey Moltoch

Education

The Role of Education in Reducing Racial Inequality

University of Southern California Pedro A. Noguera

Disability, Employment and the paradox of much higher levels of self-employment

View more insights in Professional - Education - Educational Leadership

View more figures from University of Technology Sydney

View the page of Simon Darcy

Read the Study

Next in Education

Still going… sometimes in the dark”: Reflections of a woman of color educator

Yolanda Abel | Johns Hopkins University

High school change

Andrew Hargreaves | Boston College

Simon Darcy discusses how to create a truly inclusive Australia that leaves no one behind.

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 27, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

This video video discusses the employment challenges faced by people with disabilities across various countries, particularly in Australia. It highlights poor employment rates due to structural barriers and negative employer attitudes. The speaker emphasizes the diversity within disability, mentioning various groups such as individuals with physical, vision, hearing, intellectual, developmental, and mental health disabilities.

The discussion also notes a high rate of self-employment among people with disabilities in Australia, which is 43% higher than the general population, prompting an investigation into the reasons for this phenomenon. The study incorporates a mixed-methods approach and draws on social ecological models and disability studies theory, emphasizing a social model rather than a medicalized view of disability.

Participants in self-employment often cite a desire for control and agency over their lives, as mainstream employment environments can be exclusionary. Motivations for self-employment include overcoming stigma and proving ability. The speaker shares experiences from various self-employed individuals who have started successful businesses in diverse fields, highlighting their expertise and contributions.

The research collected data through multiple methods, including digital outreach via disability organizations, incorporation of disability-focused questions in a government-sponsored survey, and gathering data from a panel of individuals with disabilities. Each method revealed different aspects of the self-employment landscape, with varying demographics and challenges.

Ultimately, the text underscores the need for systemic changes in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to increase inclusivity for people with disabilities, suggesting that tailored support and understanding of individual circumstances are essential for success in self-employment.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:06.315 --> 00:09.535
The back, the background is that,

00:10.035 --> 00:13.535
in many countries around the world,

00:13.635 --> 00:18.055
and not just, Australia, there are

00:18.925 --> 00:23.215
very poor employment rates of people with disability

00:24.155 --> 00:29.095
for lots of reasons, including structural reasons,

00:29.515 --> 00:32.615
to do with, accessibility

00:33.515 --> 00:34.655
in the broad context.

00:35.155 --> 00:38.615
And where when we talk about accessibility,

00:38.675 --> 00:42.055
people quite often only think of wheelchair users.

00:43.005 --> 00:45.345
But, in the,

00:45.605 --> 00:49.865
in the disability study space, you know,

00:49.975 --> 00:53.345
it's also about, vision impairment

00:53.445 --> 00:56.385
or people who are blind hearing impairment,

00:56.485 --> 01:01.225
or people who are what we call capital D deaf, that is part

01:01.225 --> 01:02.425
of the deaf community,

01:02.425 --> 01:06.145
and they don't regard themselves as having a disability.

01:06.175 --> 01:09.105
They regard themselves as part of a different cultural group

01:09.985 --> 01:12.905
bound together by, sign language, for example.

01:13.845 --> 01:16.625
Um, it's also about people with intellectual

01:16.845 --> 01:18.305
or developmental disability.

01:18.935 --> 01:22.425
There's a lot more talk these days about people

01:22.525 --> 01:26.905
who are either on the autism spectrum or are neurodiverse.

01:27.525 --> 01:29.785
And of course, one of the largest groups of people

01:29.785 --> 01:32.825
with disability are those that have got,

01:33.005 --> 01:35.665
mental health related, disability as well.

01:36.325 --> 01:38.865
So when you're looking at employment rates,

01:39.635 --> 01:41.545
there are some significant issues

01:42.325 --> 01:45.505
and major variations between all those groups.

01:46.365 --> 01:51.145
Um, but, the, the overall rates for employing people

01:51.145 --> 01:55.505
with disability in most countries reach a plateau.

01:56.285 --> 02:00.065
And then, the, the figure hasn't changed

02:00.445 --> 02:02.145
for quite a while.

02:03.135 --> 02:06.105
When we were, when, when we were doing

02:06.805 --> 02:10.625
the background literature, I was,

02:10.925 --> 02:12.545
I'm very interested as a quantit,

02:13.345 --> 02:14.985
a mixed methods researcher.

02:15.645 --> 02:17.665
So I'm very interested in the quantitative,

02:17.725 --> 02:19.865
and I'm also very interested in the experience.

02:20.705 --> 02:23.925
But when we looked at, some background material

02:23.925 --> 02:27.965
around employment, one figure stuck out.

02:28.105 --> 02:31.525
And that was that in the Australian context,

02:31.525 --> 02:36.005
through Australian government figures, the

02:36.675 --> 02:41.325
rate of self-employment of people with disabilities

02:42.225 --> 02:46.815
was 43% higher than that for the general population.

02:47.755 --> 02:51.895
So that got us, asking the question why,

02:53.595 --> 02:58.535
and that's what kicked us off on this journey. Uh, and,

02:58.875 --> 03:03.525
Uh, so the, the study was framed to,

03:03.915 --> 03:07.005
look into the why we know,

03:07.035 --> 03:08.925
through some we research,

03:09.705 --> 03:12.045
not just in English speaking countries.

03:12.045 --> 03:17.005
And it's interesting because I gather your, also,

03:17.785 --> 03:20.005
the fluent Spanish speaker in the part

03:20.005 --> 03:21.045
of the world you are in.

03:21.705 --> 03:25.925
Uh, we also know from, some really good work by,

03:26.285 --> 03:31.205
banish researchers that the reasons, are quite,

03:31.555 --> 03:35.245
universal, that, structural barriers.

03:36.445 --> 03:39.485
But one of the biggest barriers to mainstream employment

03:40.265 --> 03:42.165
is the attitude of employers.

03:43.185 --> 03:47.525
So they, you know, research tells us that,

03:48.195 --> 03:50.885
it's not so much a job selection process

03:52.495 --> 03:55.945
when people are recruiting, but it's a job.

03:56.285 --> 04:00.625
Uh, it's a, it's a culling process of the applications

04:00.655 --> 04:05.255
that you get and that people are most likely

04:05.435 --> 04:09.175
to employ those who are most like themselves.

04:10.215 --> 04:12.675
And we've seen this in,

04:13.935 --> 04:15.435
and we,

04:15.435 --> 04:17.635
we talk very differently in the Australian context.

04:18.415 --> 04:22.635
We would talk about a person's cultural background,

04:22.855 --> 04:24.875
or their, ethnicity.

04:25.615 --> 04:28.715
We don't talk so much about race in Australia when we're

04:28.715 --> 04:30.435
discussing these issues.

04:30.505 --> 04:31.915
It's a little bit of a different context.

04:32.695 --> 04:36.515
And of course, we've also got, our First nations,

04:36.615 --> 04:39.235
our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as well.

04:40.095 --> 04:44.955
But that, any one of difference is unlikely

04:45.055 --> 04:49.395
to be hired by employers that don't consciously

04:50.205 --> 04:52.235
think about marginalized groups

04:53.455 --> 04:55.555
and welcome their applications

04:56.545 --> 05:00.915
through making statements like, you know, we are looking

05:00.915 --> 05:02.115
for the best person for the job.

05:02.535 --> 05:06.555
We strongly encourage, females,

05:06.685 --> 05:09.795
first Nations, people from different ethnic backgrounds

05:10.415 --> 05:13.115
and those with disability to apply.

05:14.095 --> 05:17.195
So, not surprisingly,

05:17.785 --> 05:22.475
when we then decided to look into the experiences of those

05:23.065 --> 05:27.435
that make a decision to be self-employed, we started

05:27.495 --> 05:31.115
to discover the the motivations for self-employment

05:32.415 --> 05:36.385
theoretical framework as outlined in that,

05:36.385 --> 05:38.665
article were twofold.

05:40.165 --> 05:43.425
So the first one is the social

05:43.825 --> 05:46.265
ecological, bro.

05:46.975 --> 05:49.545
Then I always get the pronunciation wrong,

05:50.045 --> 05:52.505
but one's, social ecology model.

05:53.365 --> 05:56.785
And there are a number, a number of different, versions

05:56.785 --> 05:57.785
Of this.

05:58.145 --> 06:01.725
It looks at, five multi-levels,

06:03.585 --> 06:06.805
for explaining,

06:06.945 --> 06:08.885
the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

06:09.905 --> 06:14.645
So it begins with the, intrapersonal the individual

06:15.985 --> 06:18.165
and their particular circumstance.

06:19.345 --> 06:22.085
It, the next level is at the

06:23.195 --> 06:27.445
interpersonal level that is between, individuals.

06:28.305 --> 06:30.685
Uh, it then looks at the,

06:30.705 --> 06:32.285
and these are described in different ways,

06:32.385 --> 06:33.485
in different ways.

06:33.505 --> 06:34.765
The models are looked at,

06:35.265 --> 06:37.365
it then looks at the organizational level

06:37.425 --> 06:39.285
or what some people call the meso level.

06:40.145 --> 06:44.125
Uh, but we were, we were also,

06:44.235 --> 06:48.605
very interested, in looking at the community,

06:49.465 --> 06:51.125
expectations

06:51.305 --> 06:56.125
and the community environment, for disability

06:56.145 --> 06:57.645
and disability citizenship.

06:58.555 --> 07:03.455
Um, and then above that, is the macro policy level.

07:04.315 --> 07:07.615
So with that framing of social ecology,

07:08.995 --> 07:13.975
it provides an understanding of the very complex way

07:15.005 --> 07:18.295
that, responses to

07:19.465 --> 07:23.935
employment and self-employment, interact,

07:24.515 --> 07:29.335
and create, a very unique,

07:29.715 --> 07:32.815
social context in each country,

07:32.815 --> 07:34.695
where we are looking at the, those issues.

07:35.395 --> 07:37.855
So that was one part of the theoretical framework,

07:37.955 --> 07:39.015
the social ecology.

07:40.155 --> 07:44.055
The other part of the theoretical framework was to look at,

07:44.275 --> 07:46.375
disability studies theory,

07:46.955 --> 07:51.015
and in particular social approaches to disability

07:51.635 --> 07:54.255
as opposed to medicalized approaches.

07:54.935 --> 07:58.995
So medical approaches to disability, really look at,

07:58.995 --> 08:03.915
disability as a deficit, as a problem of the individual

08:04.815 --> 08:06.195
at a very basic level.

08:06.775 --> 08:10.275
And so the World Health Organization frameworks talk about,

08:11.015 --> 08:15.075
the, medical conditions or the impairments,

08:15.975 --> 08:20.115
and then, look to seek to,

08:20.715 --> 08:25.675
rehabilitate the person, so that they, into society,

08:26.085 --> 08:29.275
disability studies flips it on its head.

08:29.975 --> 08:34.755
Um, somebody with a disability isn't inverted, sick

08:35.095 --> 08:39.075
or, in some way, disadvantage

08:39.075 --> 08:42.435
because of their, impairment.

08:43.215 --> 08:45.435
Um, impairment's been part of

08:46.265 --> 08:48.735
human diversity since the start of time.

08:49.475 --> 08:52.375
And different societies have treated,

08:52.385 --> 08:53.975
disability in very different ways.

08:54.755 --> 08:59.265
So within many First Nations cultures, people,

08:59.845 --> 09:03.545
who, have impairments or are,

09:04.165 --> 09:07.665
or gain impairments as they age, dealt

09:07.665 --> 09:09.025
with within family units

09:10.005 --> 09:14.905
and within the social, setting of those,

09:14.905 --> 09:16.185
particular,

09:16.205 --> 09:18.865
and there's some very good anthropological studies around

09:18.865 --> 09:22.965
that from a social model of disability, we

09:23.595 --> 09:25.125
turn the argument on its head.

09:25.905 --> 09:30.205
Um, and so very, a very understandable metaphor,

09:31.065 --> 09:35.925
from a wheelchair user's perspective is,

09:36.485 --> 09:39.885
a medical understanding would be, well,

09:39.945 --> 09:43.045
the person's not able to access a building

09:43.045 --> 09:46.725
because there are steps from a disability perspective.

09:46.825 --> 09:50.765
We flip it on its head and we say it's a social issue,

09:50.765 --> 09:54.245
because why was the building designed in a way

09:55.155 --> 09:59.805
that didn't, that didn't provide an enabling

10:00.645 --> 10:04.485
entrance through either ramps, lifts,

10:05.105 --> 10:08.525
or, building access in from the beginning.

10:09.225 --> 10:13.885
So it, it throws it from being an individual's, issue

10:13.905 --> 10:17.645
to being, a social, economic, political

10:17.645 --> 10:22.285
and cultural issue with a series of structural,

10:22.605 --> 10:25.845
problems that need to be,

10:26.485 --> 10:27.765
designed in a different way.

10:28.665 --> 10:32.845
So when you bring those two lenses together, we,

10:33.145 --> 10:36.565
we see that at, at the level

10:36.625 --> 10:41.565
of interpersonal organizational community and macro policy.

10:42.115 --> 10:46.005
There's a whole series of, better ways

10:46.315 --> 10:51.205
that the entrepreneurial ecosystem could be designed

10:52.025 --> 10:55.405
to be far more inclusive of people with disability.

10:56.505 --> 11:00.565
And, and on the website, we, we've got some,

11:01.135 --> 11:05.725
we've got five, five sets, five videos,

11:06.945 --> 11:10.175
that look at the,

11:10.835 --> 11:14.135
the reason why somebody decided to become self-employed.

11:15.275 --> 11:19.945
So, for most people, there was a motivat.

11:20.205 --> 11:21.945
The motivation was to fold.

11:22.765 --> 11:27.545
Uh, one was to take control and agency over their life.

11:28.535 --> 11:33.275
So their experiences were that they weren't able to get,

11:33.425 --> 11:37.635
open employment, or they had open employment,

11:38.595 --> 11:42.095
and they were not being given the same opportunities

11:43.115 --> 11:44.455
in career development.

11:45.425 --> 11:47.445
And so they were, it was almost like,

11:47.955 --> 11:48.965
well, you've got a job.

11:49.275 --> 11:52.735
What else do you want? You know, just do your work

11:53.035 --> 11:56.815
And, and, you are not, you know, you,

11:56.955 --> 11:59.815
you weren't seen to be somebody

11:59.845 --> 12:03.855
that could develop further within whatever that,

12:03.855 --> 12:04.935
company happened to be.

12:05.515 --> 12:10.095
So people made a decision to, take

12:10.635 --> 12:11.935
agency over their life

12:13.885 --> 12:16.065
and, take a massive risk,

12:16.495 --> 12:20.665
because we all know being self-employed is,

12:21.205 --> 12:25.345
far more difficult than being employed from the perspective

12:25.445 --> 12:28.145
of the economic risk that you take.

12:29.155 --> 12:33.775
Um, and, also the amount of time

12:33.845 --> 12:38.815
that it takes to become, profitable,

12:39.595 --> 12:43.215
and that there is a likelihood of failure.

12:43.835 --> 12:46.215
And it's very interesting in the entrepreneurial world.

12:47.235 --> 12:50.015
Uh, and this is, you know,

12:50.155 --> 12:52.095
people without disability as well.

12:52.955 --> 12:55.095
Uh, people don't like to talk about failure,

12:55.955 --> 12:59.975
but most good entrepreneurs in the traditional sense,

13:00.875 --> 13:03.655
have experienced failure multiple times

13:04.715 --> 13:08.335
before they get the business right, or,

13:08.435 --> 13:13.095
or get their ideas, so that they can be successful.

13:13.195 --> 13:17.855
So most, you know, most, businesses,

13:18.755 --> 13:22.015
have failed within the first five years

13:22.075 --> 13:25.575
or so, now that that experience is

13:26.735 --> 13:29.335
devastating for a person with an indu, with a disability

13:30.595 --> 13:31.615
if they've come off.

13:31.955 --> 13:33.135
And this, this is

13:33.135 --> 13:36.215
what makes the social situations different in different

13:36.535 --> 13:40.495
countries, if they, they've come off the Social

13:41.925 --> 13:46.805
Security Network, where they, you know,

13:46.805 --> 13:50.565
have their needs reasonably met,

13:51.065 --> 13:52.765
by the social services.

13:53.545 --> 13:55.685
Now, those social services vary radically

13:55.685 --> 13:56.725
from country to country.

13:57.345 --> 13:59.565
Uh, and we know that it's very different in the US to

13:59.565 --> 14:01.005
what it is in,

14:01.365 --> 14:03.725
Scandinavian countries, et cetera, et cetera.

14:04.465 --> 14:08.285
So, to, to go into self-employment,

14:09.305 --> 14:11.045
is a, is a bigger risk.

14:11.545 --> 14:15.765
And, but in Australia where we do have good social,

14:15.765 --> 14:18.925
social services, people were willing to take that risk,

14:19.705 --> 14:21.005
and they wanted to do so

14:21.005 --> 14:24.885
because they believed that they had something

14:25.235 --> 14:29.725
that they could, add to not just their own,

14:30.545 --> 14:33.685
social situation in being, you know,

14:33.705 --> 14:36.805
in having a successful business and more money,

14:37.385 --> 14:40.045
but also in wanting to give back to society.

14:40.965 --> 14:42.965
Because many, the, the,

14:43.505 --> 14:47.645
the underlying discourse in many countries is that people

14:47.645 --> 14:50.045
with disability are a burden on society,

14:50.665 --> 14:53.165
and we see that in the way it's reported in the paper,

14:53.945 --> 14:58.445
or that they're, a group that are to be, pitied

14:58.505 --> 15:01.765
for their lack of ability in whatever it is.

15:01.905 --> 15:05.205
So this group of people were motivated

15:05.205 --> 15:09.445
because they didn't enjoy mainstream employment experience.

15:09.925 --> 15:12.725
And then secondly, because they wanted to show

15:13.515 --> 15:16.085
that they've got tremendous ability

15:16.585 --> 15:19.565
and they want to help break down the, the terrible

15:20.075 --> 15:23.525
stereotypes, around stigma

15:23.865 --> 15:26.325
and attitude towards disability in society.

15:26.945 --> 15:30.885
So it, it's from those, it's from those points

15:30.915 --> 15:35.525
that we see them move into an enterprise that,

15:36.185 --> 15:39.045
they had a particular skill set for.

15:39.705 --> 15:42.605
So we, we saw a lot of, a lot of people

15:43.665 --> 15:45.685
may have had a technical expertise.

15:46.675 --> 15:48.815
Uh, so we've seen, you know,

15:49.075 --> 15:52.015
people go out into their own accountancy businesses,

15:52.665 --> 15:56.605
others into environmental planning, other into,

15:56.855 --> 15:58.405
human service businesses.

15:59.225 --> 16:02.885
Uh, but we case studied some absolutely,

16:03.395 --> 16:08.285
extraordinary businesses that were in, you know,

16:08.285 --> 16:10.045
different creative industries.

16:10.185 --> 16:14.485
And one of those was, for example, a,

16:14.845 --> 16:18.495
a person who designed, manufactured,

16:18.795 --> 16:23.695
and installed, top end swimming pools into some

16:23.775 --> 16:26.825
of the best houses around the country.

16:27.565 --> 16:31.625
So lit, literally this person, designed,

16:32.065 --> 16:37.035
manufactured and wanted to provide a service,

16:37.245 --> 16:39.315
where he also went out and installed.

16:39.415 --> 16:44.235
And, he, this is a person with a physical disability, so

16:45.355 --> 16:50.115
modified trucks, crane systems, obviously,

16:50.375 --> 16:54.515
other labor to assist, to show that

16:55.175 --> 16:58.795
he could go from client liaison to installation,

16:59.975 --> 17:03.355
and present a product that,

17:03.455 --> 17:05.315
has won many national awards.

17:06.215 --> 17:09.795
Um, others were in the import, business

17:09.795 --> 17:12.275
where they bought in assistive technology

17:13.225 --> 17:14.755
from all over the world.

17:15.385 --> 17:20.355
That was the best technology, to service,

17:20.535 --> 17:22.555
people with different types of disability.

17:23.215 --> 17:24.475
So yeah, for sure.

17:24.695 --> 17:29.155
Um, all sorts of sporting equipment for, people

17:29.155 --> 17:31.955
that played disability specific sports

17:32.905 --> 17:35.355
assistive technology like I'm using today.

17:36.415 --> 17:38.395
Uh, I don't have a headset on.

17:38.985 --> 17:43.035
I've got a, a very, a very

17:43.625 --> 17:47.995
high spec microphone that sits just behind my keyboard

17:48.945 --> 17:51.645
that's got six directional mics in it,

17:52.265 --> 17:57.125
and provides, a tremendous high quality,

17:57.905 --> 18:00.285
high quality audio experience

18:00.635 --> 18:02.485
because I'm not physically able

18:02.485 --> 18:05.245
to get my headsets on and off myself.

18:06.145 --> 18:10.725
Um, and that hooks into the speech recognition,

18:11.045 --> 18:13.245
software that I use, drag and dictate, et cetera.

18:13.905 --> 18:16.365
So there, there's all sorts of businesses,

18:17.025 --> 18:18.325
that were developed.

18:19.265 --> 18:23.925
But interestingly, from a, from a methods perspective, we,

18:24.425 --> 18:28.315
we had three forms

18:28.455 --> 18:32.495
of data collection from three different populations

18:32.595 --> 18:33.815
of people with disability.

18:34.635 --> 18:36.895
Uh, so I, I'll just outline what they are now.

18:37.035 --> 18:41.095
So the, the first one was what I would call,

18:41.395 --> 18:45.975
an elect, a digital snowball exercise.

18:46.635 --> 18:48.735
Uh, where I worked through,

18:48.795 --> 18:51.935
and I, I'd use this on previous studies

18:51.965 --> 18:53.375
that were very successful.

18:54.375 --> 18:57.455
I worked with disability organizations

18:57.455 --> 19:01.165
that were membership based to get calls

19:01.705 --> 19:04.165
to be involved in my research out there,

19:04.795 --> 19:08.525
because in most countries, there's not a listing

19:08.985 --> 19:10.565
of people with disability.

19:11.775 --> 19:13.595
So how do you access them?

19:13.705 --> 19:15.675
Well, one way to access them is

19:16.025 --> 19:18.115
through membership based organizations.

19:18.335 --> 19:23.275
And in the Australian context, again, there are,

19:23.615 --> 19:26.635
you know, I think I work with close to 150

19:27.265 --> 19:30.115
different organizations to get the message out.

19:30.935 --> 19:35.205
And, remembering that it's, even though,

19:35.315 --> 19:39.725
there's a higher rate than the general population, it's a,

19:40.275 --> 19:43.125
it's still a reasonably small percentage

19:43.665 --> 19:46.205
of the overall population of people with disability

19:46.205 --> 19:47.365
that are self-employed.

19:47.985 --> 19:52.405
So, it's, you know, roughly 10% of those 10

19:52.405 --> 19:55.725
to 15% of those that are working, are working

19:55.785 --> 19:58.325
as self-employed or in entrepreneurial spaces.

19:59.265 --> 20:03.605
So that means that, you know, to find your sample

20:04.265 --> 20:06.645
is far more difficult than just doing a general

20:07.415 --> 20:09.725
study on disability overall.

20:10.465 --> 20:13.405
So that, that was one way through electronic snowballing

20:13.405 --> 20:14.565
of organizations.

20:16.035 --> 20:20.855
The second way was that there's a,

20:21.095 --> 20:25.455
a yearly, a yearly sur survey that have been going

20:25.455 --> 20:29.365
for three or four years called the Startup Muster.

20:31.375 --> 20:35.995
Now, the Startup Muster is a, a survey of,

20:36.815 --> 20:40.995
the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Australia.

20:42.145 --> 20:46.285
Um, and it was funded by the Commonwealth government,

20:46.425 --> 20:47.725
and I was very lucky.

20:48.685 --> 20:52.505
Um, my university was also a contributor to the study.

20:53.125 --> 20:56.905
And so what we did was we developed a module

20:57.485 --> 20:59.505
on disability to put into that study.

21:00.325 --> 21:01.665
So that study,

21:03.425 --> 21:06.785
provided a very different profile

21:08.075 --> 21:11.495
of people than my electronic snowballing study.

21:11.995 --> 21:14.655
And I'll give you an example, of that.

21:14.875 --> 21:19.855
So about 10% of people who answered that survey

21:21.015 --> 21:22.255
identified as having a disability.

21:23.395 --> 21:27.975
The majority of them, something like 70%,

21:28.595 --> 21:31.655
had what we call an invisible disability.

21:32.955 --> 21:36.575
And, that is, that it's not something that's physically

21:37.105 --> 21:38.455
noticeable with the individual.

21:39.155 --> 21:43.335
Uh, it included aspects of neurodiversity

21:43.875 --> 21:48.095
and particularly highly functioning people

21:48.205 --> 21:50.615
with scientific and mathematical abilities.

21:51.635 --> 21:56.575
Um, it included people with a variety of, mental health,

21:57.275 --> 22:02.095
mental health identities, including,

22:02.395 --> 22:05.295
anxiety, depression,

22:05.555 --> 22:07.935
and other mental health disabilities.

22:08.635 --> 22:12.615
And also, it was,

22:13.485 --> 22:17.335
predominantly, of dominant

22:17.955 --> 22:21.735
ethnic background, predominantly male.

22:22.945 --> 22:25.045
Um, and so it's that classic

22:26.455 --> 22:31.205
nerdy tech geek entrepreneur that dominates,

22:31.265 --> 22:33.965
aspects of the lit, of, of the literature.

22:34.505 --> 22:38.925
Um, and so that was the, that was the second,

22:38.925 --> 22:40.205
sample that we had.

22:40.905 --> 22:45.765
The third sample was I, inverted comm purchased a panel

22:46.715 --> 22:47.965
from Qualtrics.

22:48.585 --> 22:52.285
Um, and Qualtrics operates, you know,

22:52.285 --> 22:53.605
it's a billion dollar, you know, billion,

22:54.185 --> 22:58.485
$1.5 billion success story out of Salt Lake City,

22:59.145 --> 23:03.885
a, a global company servicing some

23:03.885 --> 23:07.885
of the, major research houses around the world, as well

23:07.885 --> 23:10.045
as all the top universities.

23:10.385 --> 23:12.485
My university last year

23:12.485 --> 23:14.045
for the first time broke into the top a hundred

23:14.685 --> 23:16.205
universities in the world,

23:16.225 --> 23:19.245
and one of the youngest universities in that top a hundred.

23:20.065 --> 23:24.485
Um, and we, I actually developed the business case

23:24.545 --> 23:29.245
for getting Qualtrics, into our university system.

23:29.745 --> 23:33.365
And they offered, a panel of people with disability.

23:34.065 --> 23:36.645
So again, third sample,

23:36.705 --> 23:37.965
and this one was a little different.

23:37.965 --> 23:41.405
Again, they tended to be people with,

23:42.195 --> 23:44.765
they were across all disability types,

23:45.715 --> 23:48.775
But they tended to have, be independent people

23:49.925 --> 23:50.935
with a disability

23:51.115 --> 23:55.215
or low levels of support needs where my,

23:56.435 --> 23:58.815
my snowball sample had people

23:58.815 --> 24:00.815
with much higher levels of disability.

24:01.435 --> 24:05.935
And in, in employment, we know that the lower

24:06.555 --> 24:09.375
the support needs, the higher the employment rate,

24:10.495 --> 24:13.555
the higher the support needs, the lower the employment rate.

24:14.335 --> 24:16.235
So, yeah, the, each

24:16.235 --> 24:17.915
of those samples told us a little bit different.

24:18.655 --> 24:22.315
Um, and, so for example,

24:23.015 --> 24:27.395
the startup sample, were far more,

24:29.065 --> 24:33.635
what we would regard as what I call capital E entrepreneurs.

24:34.495 --> 24:38.595
So very much they'd been through, accelerator

24:38.615 --> 24:39.995
and incubator programs.

24:40.775 --> 24:45.275
Uh, they'd been, exposed to angel investors.

24:46.185 --> 24:51.115
They had a much better, input into,

24:51.165 --> 24:53.075
government assistance in the area.

24:53.975 --> 24:58.635
Uh, and as some of our research showed later,

24:59.085 --> 25:02.435
those people that were in the snowball sample,

25:02.655 --> 25:06.315
really struggled when it came to getting external finance

25:06.695 --> 25:08.635
to take their business to the next level

25:09.365 --> 25:12.815
because, the accelerator

25:12.815 --> 25:15.655
and incubator programs surprise, surprise,

25:17.495 --> 25:19.555
didn't really,

25:20.665 --> 25:23.275
have the required support.

25:23.425 --> 25:25.355
Some of them, literally,

25:25.595 --> 25:27.555
a person like me couldn't have got through the front door.

25:28.495 --> 25:31.395
But also, their systems weren't inclusive

25:32.215 --> 25:33.515
in the sense of most of them.

25:33.855 --> 25:38.235
We would regard as a cohort system, you start with a group

25:38.235 --> 25:40.635
of people, you finish with a group of people,

25:41.455 --> 25:44.955
you've gotta fit into the system where,

25:45.985 --> 25:50.195
what we, the, some of the action research

25:50.195 --> 25:52.875
that we did, that's not in the,

25:52.895 --> 25:54.635
that's not in that ecosystem.

25:54.815 --> 25:59.555
Uh, in the, social ecology paper showed that,

25:59.695 --> 26:03.835
there was a need for programs

26:03.905 --> 26:05.995
that could work more.

26:06.365 --> 26:11.275
One-on-one to accommodate different learning styles

26:11.695 --> 26:14.875
and different timeframes for education.

Challenges and Insights on Disability Employment

00:00:06 - The back, the background is that, in many countries around the world, and not just, Australia, there are very poor employment rates of people with disability for lots of reasons, including structural reasons, to do with, accessibility in the broad context. And where when we talk about accessibility,
00:00:43 - But, in the, in the disability study space, you know, it's also about, vision impairment or people who are blind hearing impairment, or people who are what we call capital D deaf, that is part of the deaf community, and they don't regard themselves as having a disability. They regard themselves as part of a different cultural group
00:01:13 - it's also about people with intellectual or developmental disability. There's a lot more talk these days about people who are either on the autism spectrum or are neurodiverse. And of course, one of the largest groups of people with disability are those that have got, mental health related, disability as well. So when you're looking at employment rates, there are some significant issues
00:01:46 - but, the, the overall rates for employing people with disability in most countries reach a plateau. And then, the, the figure hasn't changed for quite a while. When we were, when, when we were doing the background literature, I was, I'm very interested as a quantit,
00:02:15 - So I'm very interested in the quantitative, and I'm also very interested in the experience. But when we looked at, some background material around employment, one figure stuck out. And that was that in the Australian context, through Australian government figures, the rate of self-employment of people with disabilities was 43% higher than that for the general population.
00:02:53 - and that's what kicked us off on this journey. and, so the, the study was framed to, look into the why we know, through some we research, not just in English speaking countries. And it's interesting because I gather your, also,

Barriers to Employment for Diverse Individuals

00:03:20 - of the world you are in. we also know from, some really good work by, banish researchers that the reasons, are quite, universal, that, structural barriers. But one of the biggest barriers to mainstream employment is the attitude of employers. So they, you know, research tells us that,
00:03:52 - when people are recruiting, but it's a job. it's a, it's a culling process of the applications that you get and that people are most likely to employ those who are most like themselves. And we've seen this in, and we, we talk very differently in the Australian context.
00:04:22 - or their, ethnicity. We don't talk so much about race in Australia when we're discussing these issues. It's a little bit of a different context. And of course, we've also got, our First nations, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as well. But that, any one of difference is unlikely to be hired by employers that don't consciously
00:04:53 - and welcome their applications through making statements like, you know, we are looking for the best person for the job. We strongly encourage, females, first Nations, people from different ethnic backgrounds and those with disability to apply. So, not surprisingly, when we then decided to look into the experiences of those
00:05:27 - to discover the the motivations for self-employment theoretical framework as outlined in that, article were twofold. So the first one is the social ecological, bro. Then I always get the pronunciation wrong, but one's, social ecology model.
00:05:56 - Of this. It looks at, five multi-levels, for explaining, the entrepreneurial ecosystem. So it begins with the, intrapersonal the individual and their particular circumstance. It, the next level is at the interpersonal level that is between, individuals.

Understanding Disability Through Social Ecology

00:06:30 - and these are described in different ways, in different ways. The models are looked at, it then looks at the organizational level or what some people call the meso level. but we were, we were also, very interested, in looking at the community, expectations and the community environment, for disability and disability citizenship.
00:07:04 - So with that framing of social ecology, it provides an understanding of the very complex way that, responses to employment and self-employment, interact, and create, a very unique,
00:07:32 - where we are looking at the, those issues. So that was one part of the theoretical framework, the social ecology. The other part of the theoretical framework was to look at, disability studies theory, and in particular social approaches to disability as opposed to medicalized approaches. So medical approaches to disability, really look at, disability as a deficit, as a problem of the individual
00:08:06 - And so the World Health Organization frameworks talk about, the, medical conditions or the impairments, and then, look to seek to, rehabilitate the person, so that they, into society, disability studies flips it on its head. somebody with a disability isn't inverted, sick
00:08:39 - because of their, impairment. impairment's been part of human diversity since the start of time. And different societies have treated, disability in very different ways. So within many First Nations cultures, people, who, have impairments or are, or gain impairments as they age, dealt
00:09:10 - and within the social, setting of those, particular, and there's some very good anthropological studies around that from a social model of disability, we turn the argument on its head. and so very, a very understandable metaphor, from a wheelchair user's perspective is, a medical understanding would be, well,

Redefining Disability: A Social Perspective

00:09:43 - because there are steps from a disability perspective. We flip it on its head and we say it's a social issue, because why was the building designed in a way that didn't, that didn't provide an enabling entrance through either ramps, lifts, or, building access in from the beginning. So it, it throws it from being an individual's, issue
00:10:17 - and cultural issue with a series of structural, problems that need to be, designed in a different way. So when you bring those two lenses together, we, we see that at, at the level of interpersonal organizational community and macro policy. There's a whole series of, better ways
00:10:52 - to be far more inclusive of people with disability. And, and on the website, we, we've got some, we've got five, five sets, five videos, that look at the, the reason why somebody decided to become self-employed. So, for most people, there was a motivat.
00:11:22 - one was to take control and agency over their life. So their experiences were that they weren't able to get, open employment, or they had open employment, and they were not being given the same opportunities in career development. And so they were, it was almost like, well, you've got a job. What else do you want? You know, just do your work
00:11:56 - you weren't seen to be somebody that could develop further within whatever that, company happened to be. So people made a decision to, take agency over their life and, take a massive risk, because we all know being self-employed is, far more difficult than being employed from the perspective
00:12:29 - and, also the amount of time that it takes to become, profitable, and that there is a likelihood of failure. And it's very interesting in the entrepreneurial world. and this is, you know, people without disability as well. people don't like to talk about failure,

Challenges and Opportunities in Self-Employment

00:13:00 - have experienced failure multiple times before they get the business right, or, or get their ideas, so that they can be successful. So most, you know, most, businesses, have failed within the first five years or so, now that that experience is
00:13:30 - if they've come off. And this, this is what makes the social situations different in different countries, if they, they've come off the Social Security Network, where they, you know, have their needs reasonably met, by the social services. Now, those social services vary radically from country to country.
00:13:59 - what it is in, Scandinavian countries, et cetera, et cetera. So, to, to go into self-employment, is a, is a bigger risk. And, but in Australia where we do have good social, social services, people were willing to take that risk, and they wanted to do so because they believed that they had something that they could, add to not just their own,
00:14:33 - in having a successful business and more money, but also in wanting to give back to society. Because many, the, the, the underlying discourse in many countries is that people with disability are a burden on society, and we see that in the way it's reported in the paper, or that they're, a group that are to be, pitied for their lack of ability in whatever it is.
00:15:05 - because they didn't enjoy mainstream employment experience. And then secondly, because they wanted to show that they've got tremendous ability and they want to help break down the, the terrible stereotypes, around stigma and attitude towards disability in society. So it, it's from those, it's from those points that we see them move into an enterprise that,
00:15:39 - So we, we saw a lot of, a lot of people may have had a technical expertise. so we've seen, you know, people go out into their own accountancy businesses, others into environmental planning, other into, human service businesses. but we case studied some absolutely, extraordinary businesses that were in, you know,

Innovative Solutions for Disability Access

00:16:10 - And one of those was, for example, a, a person who designed, manufactured, and installed, top end swimming pools into some of the best houses around the country. So lit, literally this person, designed, manufactured and wanted to provide a service, where he also went out and installed.
00:16:45 - modified trucks, crane systems, obviously, other labor to assist, to show that he could go from client liaison to installation, and present a product that, has won many national awards. others were in the import, business
00:17:13 - from all over the world. That was the best technology, to service, people with different types of disability. So yeah, for sure. all sorts of sporting equipment for, people that played disability specific sports assistive technology like I'm using today. I don't have a headset on. I've got a, a very, a very
00:17:48 - that's got six directional mics in it, and provides, a tremendous high quality, high quality audio experience because I'm not physically able to get my headsets on and off myself. and that hooks into the speech recognition, software that I use, drag and dictate, et cetera.
00:18:17 - that were developed. But interestingly, from a, from a methods perspective, we, we had three forms of data collection from three different populations of people with disability. so I, I'll just outline what they are now. So the, the first one was what I would call, an elect, a digital snowball exercise.
00:18:48 - and I, I'd use this on previous studies that were very successful. I worked with disability organizations that were membership based to get calls to be involved in my research out there, because in most countries, there's not a listing of people with disability. So how do you access them? Well, one way to access them is through membership based organizations.

Exploring Self-Employment Among People with Disabilities

00:19:23 - you know, I think I work with close to 150 different organizations to get the message out. And, remembering that it's, even though, there's a higher rate than the general population, it's a, it's still a reasonably small percentage of the overall population of people with disability that are self-employed. So, it's, you know, roughly 10% of those 10
00:19:55 - as self-employed or in entrepreneurial spaces. So that means that, you know, to find your sample is far more difficult than just doing a general study on disability overall. So that, that was one way through electronic snowballing of organizations. The second way was that there's a, a yearly, a yearly sur survey that have been going
00:20:31 - Now, the Startup Muster is a, a survey of, the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Australia. and it was funded by the Commonwealth government, and I was very lucky. my university was also a contributor to the study. And so what we did was we developed a module
00:21:00 - So that study, provided a very different profile of people than my electronic snowballing study. And I'll give you an example, of that. So about 10% of people who answered that survey identified as having a disability. The majority of them, something like 70%,
00:21:32 - And, that is, that it's not something that's physically noticeable with the individual. it included aspects of neurodiversity and particularly highly functioning people with scientific and mathematical abilities. it included people with a variety of, mental health, mental health identities, including,
00:22:05 - and other mental health disabilities. And also, it was, predominantly, of dominant ethnic background, predominantly male. and so it's that classic nerdy tech geek entrepreneur that dominates, aspects of the lit, of, of the literature.

Exploring Disability Entrepreneurship Through Diverse Samples

00:22:38 - sample that we had. The third sample was I, inverted comm purchased a panel from Qualtrics. and Qualtrics operates, you know, it's a billion dollar, you know, billion, $1.5 billion success story out of Salt Lake City, a, a global company servicing some of the, major research houses around the world, as well
00:23:10 - My university last year for the first time broke into the top a hundred universities in the world, and one of the youngest universities in that top a hundred. and we, I actually developed the business case for getting Qualtrics, into our university system. And they offered, a panel of people with disability. So again, third sample, and this one was a little different.
00:23:42 - they were across all disability types, But they tended to have, be independent people with a disability or low levels of support needs where my, my snowball sample had people with much higher levels of disability. And in, in employment, we know that the lower the support needs, the higher the employment rate,
00:24:14 - So, yeah, the, each of those samples told us a little bit different. and, so for example, the startup sample, were far more, what we would regard as what I call capital E entrepreneurs. So very much they'd been through, accelerator and incubator programs.
00:24:46 - They had a much better, input into, government assistance in the area. and as some of our research showed later, those people that were in the snowball sample, really struggled when it came to getting external finance to take their business to the next level because, the accelerator
00:25:17 - didn't really, have the required support. Some of them, literally, a person like me couldn't have got through the front door. But also, their systems weren't inclusive in the sense of most of them. We would regard as a cohort system, you start with a group of people, you finish with a group of people, you've gotta fit into the system where,

Need for Personalized Education Programs

00:26:11 - that we did, that's not in the, that's not in that ecosystem. in the, social ecology paper showed that, there was a need for programs that could work more. One-on-one to accommodate different learning styles and different timeframes for education.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Faculti

Popular in Professional

Human Rights and Corruption: Problems and Potential of Individualising a Systemic Problem

A statistical approach to law school citation rankings

High school change

What is constitutional ideology?

Politics, Identity, and Class Certification on the U.S. Courts of Appeals

The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place

The Role of Education in Reducing Racial Inequality

Disability, Employment and the paradox of much higher levels of self-employment

Next in Education

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Page Structure

Popular in Professional

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Accessibility Options

Contrast Adjustment

Text Size Adjustment

Text Spacing Adjustment

Line Height Adjustment

Cursor Size Adjustment

Page Structure Options

Page Structure