According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four adults in the United States live with some type of disability that impacts major life activities, making it difficult to access adequate health care, actively participate in their 社区和在工作场所获得就业机会.
Many experts consider persons with disabilities the most marginalized group in society. It’s not only the largest minority group in the United States, but also one that anyone can join at any time — at birth or as the result of an accident, illness or the natural 衰老的过程.
Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed 33 years ago, which made it illegal to discriminate against individuals with disabilities in all areas 在公共生活方面，许多人认为进步还不够. 残疾人士 remain overrepresented among America’s poor and uneducated and a February 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics report confirms that across all age groups, persons with a disability 是否比那些没有残疾的人更不容易被雇佣. 通常, 阻碍我们前进的不是残疾.
“While barriers exist in our world in many forms toward people with disabilities, whether it’s stairs or narrow doorways or lack of testing accommodations in the classroom environment, the biggest barrier for individuals with a disability is stigma,” said 吉尔·贝兹亚克博士.D., professor and program coordinator of UNC’s Rehabilitation Counseling 和科学项目.
Recognizing and overcoming stigma is the goal of a new research study Bezyak recently launched in partnership with the Rocky Mountain ADA Center (RMADAC). 她的希望 newly developed tools designed to mitigate negative bias toward people with disabilities are successful, providing them with more 就业机会 and ultimately, 更好的生活质量.
The RMADAC is one of 10 ADA centers across the country that work together as a national 网络，提供有关《博天堂官方》的信息、指导和培训. 而Bezyak做到了 had a long-standing research partnership with the RMADAC dating back to 2009, the university assumed management of the center’s grant funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation 研究 last March, making the RMADAC是UNC的正式组成部分.
误解和迷思比比皆是
As both an adjunct instructor and an alumna of the Rehabilitation Counseling and Sciences program, Jessica Mathis, ’15 is well-versed in the employment challenges for persons 从雇主和雇员的角度来看都有残疾.
In her seven years working with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) Mathis has served as a specialist helping employers navigate ADA requirements in apprenticeship programs and as a rehabilitation counselor helping persons with disabilities navigate 就业机会. 她在两方面的工作经验已经显示出来了 her first-hand how stigma can influence employment decisions and how education can 改变思想.
Employers often think that hiring people with disabilities will slow production or 花了很多钱. 还有人担心，残疾工人将得不到这样的待遇 able to keep up or that the employer is setting them up to fail in an environment 那容纳不了他们. 但研究表明，这些看法远非如此 真正的.
A recent report by the Job Accommodation Network indicated that most accommodations (58%)为零成本，其余成本低于500美元. 埃森哲的另一份报告， indicated that companies who employed persons with disabilities saw, on average, 28% higher revenues over a four-year period compared to their counterparts and that employees with disabilities offer benefits that include increased innovation, improved productivity 以及更好的工作环境.
Mathis said that after sharing these kinds of facts and education, employers often experience an aha moment and for the most part are thankful for the information and 提高的机会.
“Overcoming those barriers so that persons with disabilities have a full spectrum of options — if we can do that, we’re equaling the playing field,” Mathis said. “这是 这就是为什么我所做的工作如此有影响力.”
探索新的干预措施，以减轻偏见
“Implicit bias toward persons with disabilities is a problem that has been well documented, and the goal of this type of research is to tell people that it’s out there and it’s 这是一个问题。. “但我们现在正在做的是尝试做一些事情 it. We’re currently missing that link or intervention to not just raise awareness 偏见是存在的，但要改变偏见.”
Bezyak’s study will engage human resource professionals and law enforcement personnel, starting with a pre-test to measure both implicit and explicit bias. 参与者 then view an hour-long training that includes techniques to recognize, manage and improve bias, as well as testimonials from persons with disabilities, parents of children 有残疾人和执法人员.
“The testimonials are powerful,” said Emily Shuman, director of the RMADAC. “要 训练从一个概念性的理论性的地方出发，使之人性化. 它说明了 偏见是如何在现实世界中出现的.”
The training videos are immediately followed by the explicit bias questions again 三个月后再做内隐偏见问题. Bezyak说研究 shows that implicit bias isn’t going to change in an hour’s time, but three months 未来可能会取得进展.
“The hope with this is that we will be able to get people to understand that biases have an impact on the experiences and lives of people with disabilities,” said Shuman. “If we can start to challenge our preconceived notions around disability, that can lead to people with disabilities having better outcomes in terms of employment, education, 住房，获得报酬，公平的工资——所有这些. 这将导致更多 作为一个整体的包容性社会.”
