Sites of Access. Entry opportunities into employment for people with disabilities

People with disabilities are often seen as somehow "unfit" for employment. Conversely, researchers, policymakers and stakeholders often view the labor market as very excluding vis-a-vis people with disabilities. While these insights are important, this project takes at its starting point that many persons with disabilities are in fact included into employment. On this basis, we study (on macro level as well as on the micro level) how inclusion actually come about. Important macro level findings: 1) Although the group "young people with disabilities" is very heterogenous, the patterns of exclusion and inclusion are remarkably consistent. 2) Gender interacts with disability, whereby disabling processes affect men more than women. 3) Education is a facilitator of employment for young people with disabilities, but to a lesser degree than one might imagine. 4) The difference between different areas of the labour market (industries) are significant, but only a limited degree. Important micro level findings: 1) Employers that are particularly interested in people with disabilities, thereby partly viewing disabilitiy as an "asset", distance themselves actively from the welfare state and its discourses. 2) Those organizations are still closely related to the welfare state (particularly in economic terms). 3) Professionals in the work and welfare services (NAV) emphasize market logic (demand side understandings), but put surprisingly little emphasis on disability rights. 4) The knowledge translation - both in the workplaces and in the welfare services, emphasize "success stories" rather than more systematic forms of knowledge.

Primary objective: to provide knowledge that enable increased labour market participation of people with disabilities. Sites of access succeeded in providing robust knowledge, and the findings from WP2 and WP3 are clearly enabling. Since the WP1 findings show very stable patterns of exclusion, their enabling impact is less clear Secondary objectives are: 1. To fill in a research cap on how disabled peoples' entry into the labour market actually takes place. Yes, this was clearly delivered by WP1 2. To turn a "problem perspective" upside down and, by drawing knowledge from organizations that specifically value disability or disability-related experiences. Yes, delivered with successful academic publications in WP2. 3. To provide less "generalized" knowledge on entry into the labour market, with a stronger emphasis on the level of sectors and organizations. While both WP1 and WP3 looked explicitly for such meso level findings, sectors and singular organizations proved to be less important than we expected. 4. To provide knowledge that is useful in policy making, useful to the labour and welfare services, in recruitment processes of employers and to job-seeking individuals with disabilities. This was achieved through publications, but also through invited presentations at various public agencies (LDO, ASD, Riksrevisjonen). 5. To develop education programs on the inadequately treated topic of the part played by employers and work organizations in processes of entry into the labour market: Due to sick leave, and not least the effects of covid-19, this was not achieved.

Disability and reduced work capacity is ofter perceived as a very difficult obstacle. Sites of Access, in contrast, takes as its starting point that work life organizations do accommodate for difference. There are sites of access in work life, and this project sets out to study the accommodations that facilitates access, accommodations provided by both work life organizations and the labour and welfare services. Three closely linked work packages make up the project: WP1 Trajectories of Inclusion looks closer at work life entry for people with disabilities - to which sectors of labour market they enter, and the impact of education in the entry processes. WP2 Disability as an Asset research how valuation of difference, and sometimes of disability, makes certain workplaces to become inclusive. WP3 Facilitating Inclusion study how the welfare and labour service interacts with inclusive work organizations. The project apply a mixed method approach including analyses of register data, survey data and case studies of work organizations and labour and welfare offices. The project is coordinated by the recently established Center for Work Inclusion, a joint effort of HiOA and the Labour and Welfare Administration. It is organized as a collaboration between the Work Research Institute at Centre for Welfare and Labour Research, the Faculty of Health Science, the Faculty of Social Science, the interdisciplinary Care, Health and Welfare program, and the NGO Young Disabled (in Norwegian: Unge funksjonshemmede). To ensure policy-relevant research that can make an impact, the project also involve participants from the Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), The Norwegian Association for Young Disaled, the Confederation of Norwegian Trade Unions (LO) and Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO).