With an estimated 21% of undergraduate students and 11% of graduate students identifying as having a disability, higher education and employers must work to build accessible on-ramps to careers.
Learners with disabilities stand to benefit immensely from higher education, but have been historically underserved. In May, the Coalition on Accessibility in Higher Education released a playbook to improve accessibility across college systems – including those on-campus and online. Even when college achieves accessible and inclusive systems, its true value is realized when learners gain access to career experience alongside their academic studies. In CHEPP’s report, Online by Design: Improving Career Connection for Today’s Learners, we unpack how higher education programs can provide robust on-ramps to economic opportunity by aligning with workforce needs. While there are great examples of career-connected postsecondary programs across the country, there is a long way to go before career connectivity is the norm.
As higher education works towards expanding career connections, it is important to ensure that opportunities are accessible for learners with disabilities. In our latest report, Creating Accessible Career Connectivity for Learners with Disabilities in Higher Education, we surface what we’ve learned from interviews with practitioners about how to ensure career connected activities fully meet the needs of disabled learners. While there is limited existing data and research on this topic, available data indicates:
The report surfaces the unique barriers that learners with disabilities face when transitioning from college to career, including how the accommodations process changes from education to workplace environments, persistent discrimination, and inaccessible settings. By understanding these barriers, institutions of higher education and employers can work together to address them through better training and accessible design. For example, institutions and employers should consider:
- Breaking down siloes between career advising and disability services offices at institutions of higher education.
- The need for student training on self-advocacy in higher education and the workforce, plus support in understanding the difference of accommodations in these settings.
- The need for employer training on hiring and supporting disabled workers.
- The need for career service advisor training on accessibility, accommodations, and coordinating with disability services.
- The need for accessible recruitment and onboarding processes for career connected activities – including internship job descriptions, application processes, and interviews.
While reaching full accessibility will take time, this report provides higher education leaders, practitioners, and employers with a starting point to improve career connected systems for this population.
To learn more about how to make career connected opportunities accessible, read the new report, Creating Accessible Career Connectivity for Learners with Disabilities in Higher Education.