People with disabilities have low employment levels, and previous research suggests that employer discrimination is a contributing factor. Following prior field experiments on labor market discrimination, evidence is presented from a correspondence study that submitted applications in response to 12,032 advertised software developer (high-skill) and data-entry clerk (low-skill) positions. One-quarter of the cover letters disclosed that the applicant has a spinal cord injury, one-quarter disclosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one-quarter disclosed a hearing impairment, and one-quarter did not mention disability. The evidence did not show gaps by disability status in employer interest in both occupations. It suggests a leveling effect that technology may have on job opportunities for people with disabilities in some professions. Complementary lab experiments attempted to shed light on the socio-cognitive processes underlying hiring behavior by simulating staffing sessions in a controlled setting of 241 participants. Overall, the evidence suggests that a signaling system depicting an inclusion policy may ease aversion toward applicants with disabilities.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Industrial Relations and Human Resources
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_8247
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (vii, 274 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
People with disabilities--Employment
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Discrimination in employment
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Mason Ameri
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10001600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.