Career and Workplace Experiences of Australian University Graduates Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Abstract

This article reports on the experiences of a group of deaf and hard-of-hearing alumni of Griffith University in south-east Queensland, Australia. Participants completed a survey answering questions about their communication patterns and preferences, working lives, career barriers or difficulties anticipated and encountered, and workplace accommodations used or sought. Results revealed a range of career barriers and workplace difficulties encountered by these participants, as well as solutions found and strategies used by them. Differences in employment sector, job-search activities, difficult workplace situations, and use of accommodations were noted between 2 groups: those who communicated primarily in Australian Sign Language and considered themselves to have a Deaf or bicultural identity and those who communicated primarily in spoken English and considered themselves to have a hearing identity. Implications for university services supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing students are outlined, and suggestions for further research are made.

The experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland University: 1985–2005

“…Email: m.hyde@griffith.edu.au loss, of students and graduates who had attended Griffith University (or the Mt Gravatt College of Education) and who were deaf or hard of hearing. The second aim was to explore the workplace experiences of these students and graduates (Punch, Hyde, & Power, 2007). Here, we report the findings of the first part of the project, the university experiences of graduates and current students.…”

Deafness-Specific Tactic Knowledge: A New Understanding of Mental Health, and Social and Professional Participation

“…Chronic unemployment, underemployment, and maintaining employment are problems for many deaf adults (Hogan et al, 2009a;Punch, Hyde, & Creed, 2004;Rosengreen, Saladin, & Hansmann, 2009). For example, a disproportionately high 45 percent of unemployed deaf Australians were deaf before 20 years old (Hogan, O'Loughlin, Davis, A., & Kendig, 2009a).…”

In Their Own Words: Exploring the Phenomenological Field of a Sample of Employed Persons Who Are Deaf in Barbados

“…However, the literature indicates that employers prefer to provide these accommodations on an individual basis (Punch et al, 2007). Scherich and Mowry (1997) found that employers made informal arrangements or invested more in assistive devices for telephones as part of their accommodations.…”